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F  R  E  E  D  M  E  N 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE 


AND  STATE  OF  ARKANSAS 


For  1864, 


MEMPHIS,  TENN.: 

PUBLISHED  BY  PEE  MISSION, 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2017  with  funding  from 

University  of  Illinois  Urbana-Champaign  Alternates 


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EEPORT. 


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OFFICE  GENERAL  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN, 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE  AND  STATE  OF  ARKANSAS, 


Memphis,  Tenn.,  December  31st,  1864.  ' 

Brig.  Gen.  L.  THOMAS, 

Adjutant  General,  U.  S.  A. 

General, — This  supervision  has,  during  the  year,  extended 
over  a  territory  from  Cairo,  Southward,  in  the  Mississippi  Valley, 
populated,  according  to  the  census  of  1860,  by  770,000  blacks  ; 
'including  the  cities  of  Memphis,  Vicksburg,  N  atchez,  and  Little 
Rock,  and  the  military  posts  of  Columbus,  Island  10,  Corinth, 
Helena,  Du  Vail’s  Bluff,  Pine  Bluff,  Fort  Smith,  Goodrich  Land¬ 
ing,  Milliken’s  Bend,  and  Davis  Bend. 


PREVIOUS  CONDITION  OF  THE  FREEDMEN. 


No  phase  of  the  former  condition  of  this  people,  or  of  their 
present  transition,  has  been  excluded  from  our  view.  Previous 
to  the  time  covered  by  this  report,  the  officers  of  this  supervision 
had  more  than  a  year’s  experience  among  the  above  population, 
observing  and  directing  similar  causes  and  results.  These  were 
never  fully  reported.  Though  that  experience  has  a  direct  bear¬ 
ing  upon  our  present  plans,  it  can  be  admitted  here  only  as 
shaping  the  views,  policy  and  facts  herein  epitomized. 

The  rebellion,  at  the  outset,  began  to  disturb  this  population, 
by  an  increase  from  Missouri,  and  a  decrease  southward ;  by  the 
masters’  diminishing  the  supply  of  clothing, — increasing  or  de¬ 
creasing  in  severity  as  affected  by  the  shock  of  arms, — and  by 
the  seizure  of  the  blacks,  for  military  purposes,  by  the  insurgents. 
The  frequent  marching  and  countermarching  of  loyal  and  dis¬ 
loyal  armies,  consuming  or  destroying  the  material  comforts  of 
life,  such  as  food,  shelter,  and  the  implements  of  industry  ;  the 
actual  shock  of  arms,  or  the  terror  of  their  motion,  left  hardly 
an  individual,  white  or  black,  unaffected.  It  was  soon  evident 
that  the  strength  of  these  regions  consisted  in  three  distinct 


4 


REPORT  OF  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN, 


elements :  masters,  slaves  and  poor  whites.  Many  of  the  last 
were  forced  into  the  rebel  armies,  furnished  with  horses  and 
better  food  and  clothing,  and  their  families  were  supported  ;  and, 
therefore,  they  failed  to  see,  so  soon  as  some  of  the  negroes  and 
the  Southern  unionists,  that  the  interests  of  these  elements  were 
not  only  diverse,  but  hostile  ;  and  that  the  war  was  the  effort  of 
the  master  to  render  irrevocably  supreme  the  power  of  his  own 
caste.  Some  whites  looked  Northward ;  but  the  blacks  illustra¬ 
ted  what  the  history  of  the  world  has  rarely  seen, — a  slave  popu¬ 
lation,  sprung  from  antecedent  barbarism,  rising  up  and  leaving 
its  bondage  of  centuries,  and  its  ardent  local  traditions  and  asso¬ 
ciations,  sundering  the  boasted  influences  and  attractions  of  the 
master  ;  in  rags  or  silks  ;  feet  shod  or  bleeding  ;  individually  or  in 
families  ;  and  pressing  towards  the  armies  characterized  as  “  Van¬ 
dal  hordes.”  Their  comings  were  like  the  arrivals  of  cities.  Often 
they  met  prejudices  against  their  color,  more  bitter  than  that 
they  had  left  behind.  There  was  no  Moses  to  lead,  nor  plan  in 
their  exodus.  The  decision  of  their  instinct  or  unlettered  reason 
brought  them  to  us.  They  felt  that  their  interests  were  identical 
with  the  objects  of  our  armies.  This  identity  of  interest,  slowly 
but  surely,  came  to  be  perceived  by  our  officers  and  soldiers,  and 
by  the  loyal  public.  They  gave  information  for  the  guidance  of 
campaigns  ;  laborers  for  the  various  staff  departments  ;  took  upon 
themselves  all  the  serving  of  the  army  for  officers,  hospitals,  &c.  ; 
and  soon  were  accepted  as  capable  of  the  soldier’s  discipline  and 
endurance  in  all  arms  of  the  service,  and  worthy  of  a  soldier’s 
pay  and  honor.  Out  of  those  who  came  within  our  lines,  proba¬ 
bly  not  less  than  80,000  have  either  died  in  the  United  States 
service,  or  are  still  in  it  as  laborers  or  soldiers. 

But  there  was  a  background  to  this  sublime  march  of  events. 
Ignorance  ;  perverted  ideas — taking  liberty  for  idleness — em¬ 
bracing  all  the  fostered  vices  and  crimes  of  the  old  system, 
cringing  deceit,  theft,  absence  of  chastity,  and  of  the  safeguards 
and  promptings  of  the  family  relation ;  tatters,  nakedness,  torn 
limbs ;  women  in  travail ;  helpless  childhood  ;  age  and  decrepi¬ 
tude;  multiform  sickness  and  unwept  death.  The  sublime  dash- 
ings  and  roar  of  the  surge  could  not  conceal  the  wreck  or  drown 
the  piercing  cry  of  distress.  The  army  shared  its  own  food, 
shelter  and  clothing ;  charity,  gathering  in  its  small  rills  from 
the  loyal  mountains  and  valleys,  came  forward  in  a  full,  gushing 
stream,  bearing  laborers  and  material. 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE. 


5 


GENERAL  GRANT  AND  THE  ARMY. 

The  laws  of  Congress  had  freed  some;  the  proclamation,  all. 
The  law  of  the  army,  here  the  only  expression  of  the  law  of  the 
land,  began  to  declare  itself  in  behalf  of  the  blacks.  All  the 
wise  and  humane  devisings  and  issues  of  General  Grant,  antedate 
the  past  year,  though  pervading  its  events,  as  they  must  those 
of  the  future. 

It  is  not  unworthy  of  note  here,  that  the  army,  though  em¬ 
bracing  in  itself  all  the  instrumentalities  for  the  destruction  of 
its  foe,  at  whatever  cost  of  comfort,  treasure  and  life  ;  though 
having  in  it  the  usual  admixture  of  good  and  bad  ;  though  look¬ 
ed  upon  by  many  benevolent  people,  as  only  another  master  for 
the  black ;  has  done  all  that  has  been  done  to  free,  feed,  shelter, 
protect  and  give  him  medical  attendance  ;  and  has  formed  the 
only  safe  channel  for  the  benevolence,  that  has  come  to  his  aid  ; 
nay,  has  added  to  protection,  transportation,  rations  and  quarters. 
More  than  all  this,  it  hafe  sought  out  of  its  forms  for  administer¬ 
ing  justice,  an  adaptation  to  the  peculiar  condition  of  these  freed 
people. 

This  has  been  the  work  in  the  hands  of  my  officers  and  my¬ 
self.  To  some  extent,  it  may  have  affected  all  of  the  above 
770,000,  during  the  year;  but  direct  authority  has  reached  them 
only  when  they  or  their  employers  have  come  within  our  lines ; 
and  this  report  must  be,  necessarily,  subject  to  the  usual  military 
limitations.  I  cannot  stop  even  to  mention  the  circumstances  of 
their  removal  from  Corinth  and  Island  10.  My  object  is  not  so 
much  to  detail  the  history,  as  to  concentrate  those  events,  facts 
and  opinions,  which  may  serve  to  throw  light  upon  the  future. 

DUTY  UNDER  ORDERS  NO.  94. 

Special  orders,  No.  94,  (of  the  Secretary  of  War,  issued  by 
Adjutant  General  Thomas,  at  Goodrich  Landing,  La.,  Nov.  5th, 
1863,)  provides  that  the  General  Superintendent  of  Freedmen 
shall  assign, 

“  The  Field  and  Staff  of  the  Regiments  raised  by  him,  for  the  super¬ 
vision  and  protection  of  these  people  and  their  industry,  to  duty  as  Gen¬ 
eral  Assistants,  and  the  companies  and  their  commanders  to  local  duty. 
All  Assistant  Superintendents  will  be  subject  to  his  order. 

“  This  supervision  will  embrace  the  general  guardianship  of  all  in¬ 
terests  of  the  freed  people ;  their  registration ;  all  necessary  permits  and 
contracts  for  labor  with  private  parties,  lessees,  officers,  citizens,  or  others ; 
the  provision  of  industry  for  them  in  camp,  or  on  plantations ;  determine 
the  location  of  camps,  the  occupation  of  plantations  to  be  worked  by  the 


6 


REPORT  OF  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN, 


infirm,  vagrant,  or  idle,  and  all  others  necessarily  or  temporarily  in  charge 
of  the  Government. 

“  No  freed  people  will  be  recruited  or  ordered  out  of  camp,  except¬ 
ing  through  the  officer  in  charge. 

“  Superintendents  will  encourage  the  people  to  answer  calls  to  indus¬ 
try,  by  voluntary  agreement  to  labor,  and  enforce  the  inviolability  of  the 
agreement. 

“  To  prevent  the  frequent  infringement  of  the  interests  of  these 
people,  and  secure  proper  uniformity  to  the  action  of  the  Government, 
there  will  be  no  change  of  the  regulations,  forms  of  contracts,  permits, 
&c.,  except  through  the  General  Superintendent.” 

THE*  GUARD  REGIMENTS. 

The  organization  of  these  regiments,  approved  by  General 
Grant,  and  ordered  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  (by  Adjutant  Gen¬ 
eral  Thomas,)  for  this  special  purpose,  has  not  only  proved  emi¬ 
nently  serviceable,  but  the  only  instrumentality  for  the  execution 
of  the  above  order. 

TERRITORIAL  DIVISIONS. 

To  facilitate  the  work,  the  territory  was  divided  into  the 
Districts  of  West  Tennessee,  office  at  Memphis,  Capt.  T.  A.  Wal¬ 
ker,  Supt. ;  Arkansas,  office  at  Little  Rock,  Maj  W.  G.  Sargent, 
Supt. ;  with  local  offices  at  Helena,  Capt.  A.  L.  Thayer ;  Pine 
Bluff,  Capt.  Mallory;  Du  Vail’s  Bluff,  Lt.  W.  Davis;  and  Fort 
Smith ;  District  of  Vicksburg,  office  at  Vicksburg,  Col.  Samuel 
Thomas,  Supt.  and  Provost  Marshal,  assisted  by  Lieut.  Col.  A. 
L.  Mitchell,  at  Natchez;  Capt.  Norton,  at  Davis  Bend;  Lieut. 
Thirds,  at  Vidalia ;  Lieut.  Mathews,  at  Goodrich  Landing ;  and 
Capt.  Weber,  at  Vicksburg. 

WHAT  SHALL  WE  DO  WITH  THEM? 

The  change  of  the  negro’s  position  at  once  excited  to  activ¬ 
ity  all  the  old  prejudices  regarding  him,  and  renewed,  in  various 
forms,  the  old  conflicts  over  the  question,  What  shall  be  done 
with  him?  Shall  he  still  be  treated  as,  in  fact,  a  slave  to  the  in¬ 
dividual,  or  be  required  to  work  for  the  Government,  without 
supplies,  pay,  or  the  consideration  that  was  accorded  to  him  when 
he  was  of  value  as  a  marketable  commodity  ?  Or  shall  he  be 
free  f  Shall  these  men  and  women,  long  abused,  whose  industry 
was  the  source  of  all  the  regal  wealth  which  adorned  the  South¬ 
ern  palaces ;  who  have  come  over  from  the  enemy  to  our  help, 
be  held  deserving  of  our  consideration  ?  Shall  they,  who  have 
been  robbed  of  manhood, — of  the  very  essentials  of  improve- 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE. 


7 


ment  in  personal  character  and  condition,  receive  from  us  due 
sympathy  ?  Shall  they,  who,  whatever  their  capacity,  yet  need 
our  temporary  care,  until  they  become  conscious  of  their  ability 
to  use  the  instrumentalities  around  them  for  their  good,  be 
refused  our  help  ?  Shall  they,  who,  as  laborers,  could  give  effi¬ 
ciency  to  the  staff  departments  of  the  army ;  or,  as  soldiers,  form 
regimental  organizations,  and  thus  promote  military  ends,  be 
thoughtlessly  pushed  aside  ?  Shall  they,  who  are  familiar  with 
the  by-paths  and  cotton  piles ;  and  could  become  the  carriers  of 
supplies  through  our  lines  to  the  enemy-;  or,  as  the  tillers  of  this 
rich  soil,  rendered  a  hundred  fold  more  productive  by  the  in 
creased  value  of  the  cotton  fibre  ;  and  thus  the  negro,  himself,  a 
hundred  fold  more  an  object  of  the  consideration  of  speculative 
capital ;  be  disregarded  by  Government  ? 

PREJUDICES. 

In  the  midst  of  all  the  conflicts  of  interests,  which  arose  out 
of  this  state  of  affairs,  and  of  the  temptations  incidental  to  the 
occasion ;  and  of  the  scramble  that  ensued,  among  various  par¬ 
ties,  for  emolument;  and  of  fellow-officers,  who,  not  only  did  not 
respect,  but  found  a  peculiar  pleasure  in  obstructing,  the  settled 
policy  of  the  Government — and  sneering  at  the  “  nigger  men” — 
my  assistants  were  exposed  to  a  test  more  severe  to  moral 
courage  than  the  battle-field,  and  more  trying  to  judicial  and 
business  capacity,  than  any  amount  of  perplexity  in  more  peace¬ 
ful  and  common  scenes.  It  is  not  surprising  that  some  officers 
failed,  or  that  it  was  difficult  to  secure  and  retain  those  most 
faithful.  Those  who  have  stood  the  test,  could  have  no  better 
proof  of  official  merit. 

DEPARTMENTS  OF  LABOR. 

In  addition  to  this  territorial  subdivision  of  labor  among  my 
assistants,  the  importance  of  three  classes  of  interests,  namely : 
The  control  of  property;  the  supply  of  medicines  and  medical 
attendance  ;  and  the  arrangement  of  educational  affairs,  render¬ 
ed  it  necessary  that  I  should  have  one  officer,  whom  I  could  hold 
responsible  for  each  of  these  classes  of  labor.  In  respeot  to  ed¬ 
ucation,  during  nine  months,  this  plan  was  defeated’  by  circum¬ 
stances  beyond  my  control.  Lieut.  B.  K.  Johnston  was  assign¬ 
ed  to  duty  as  A.  A.  Q.  M.,  and  A.  C.  S.,  of  Freedmen,  and  has 
done  much  for  the  economicol  management  of  property ;  render- 


8 


REPORT  OF  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN, 


mg  satisfactory  reports  to  Washington,  as  usually  required  of 
officers  of  those  Departments.  To  meet  the  medical  necessities, 
Dr.  D.  O.  McCord,  Surgeon,  63rd  U.  S.  C.  I.,  was  designated 
Surgeon-in-chief  of  Freedmen.  His  powers,  by  this  assignment, 
proved  inadequate.  The  sanitary  condition  of  the  people  was 
appalling.  Neither  medicines  nor  surgeons  were  at  hand.  Every 
one  acknowledged  the  importance  of  doing  something.  The 
distress  and  confusion  were  met  by  Orders  114,  of  the  Secretary 
of  War,  issued  by  Adjt.  Gen.  Thomas,  making  Surgeon  McCoid,. 
Medical  Director,  with  power  to  employ  surgeons  and  control 
medicines. 


NO  MONEY  DRAWN  FROM  GOVERNMENT. 

All  officers  handling  supplies,  received  from  the  Govern¬ 
ment,  adjusted  their  methods  of  business,  forms  of  reports, 
vouchers,  &c.,  to  army  regulations.  Not  a  cent  of  money  has 
ever  been  drawn  from  Government,  for  the  Freedmen,  on  any 
account.  A  careful  use  of  the  tax,  temporarily  required  by 
orders  63,  and  of  funds  accruing  from  the  profits  of  labor  of  the 
department,  under  the  care  of  the  different  superintendents,  has 
met  all  the  incidental  expenses  of  these  wide  spread  operations ; 
paid  five  thousand  dollars  for  hospitals ;  the  salaries  of  all  hos¬ 
pital  stewards  and  medical  assistants  as  per  Orders  94,  and  enabled 
us  to  supply  to  the  people,  aside  from  the  abandoned  property, 
implements  of  industry,  <fcc,,  secured  to  their  benefit,  clothing, 
household  utensils,  and  other  articles,  essential  to  their  comfort, 
which  they  could  not  have  secured,  otherwise,  at  less  than  three 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars.  The  management  of  these 
funds  and  supplies,  has  sprung  out  of  the  exigencies  of  the 
people’s  condition  ;  adapted,  as  far  as  necessary,  to  army  methods  ; 
requiring  a  rigid  system  of  accounts,  monthly  reports  covered 
by  certificates  and  vouchers,  followed  up  by  careful  inspections, 
not  only  from  this  office,  but  the  different  commanding  Generals. 

GENERAL  ASSISTANTS. 

H.  B,  Spelman,  Esq.,  widely  known  for  his  scrupulous  hon. 
esty  and  business  experience,  President  of  one  of  the  Freedmen 
Aid  Societies,  has  been  employed  to  market  the  crop  now  closing 
out.  Chaplain  A.  S.  Fisk,  ordered  to  report  to  me  by  General 
Grant ;  Chaplain  Joseph  Warren,  D.  D.,  by  General  McPherson  j 
and  Chaplain  James  A.  Hawley,  in  accordance  with  Orders  94, 


DEPARTMENT  OF  TNE  TENNESSEE. 


9 


have  efficiently  aided  in  charge  of  the  people,  making  inspections, 
checking  vices,  and  controling  those  instrumentalities  which  more 
closely  affect  the  moral  and  social  sentiments  of  the  Freedrnen. 

PARTIES  GIVING  INFORMATION. 

The  parties  who  are  best  able  to  furnish  the  facts  under  this 
supervision,  upon  which  depend  questions  of  future  management, 
are,  1st.  The  Superintendents  and  Provost  Marshals  of  Freed- 
men  ;  2nd.  The  Freedrnen  themselves ;  3rd.  Their  employers ; 
4th.  Their  teachers  ;  5th.  Commanding  officers.  This  testimony 
has  been  carefully  sought.  I  shall  endeavor  to  group  it  as  ex¬ 
actly  and  briefly  as  possible  for  the  fair  judgment  of  others. 

DIFFICULTIES  AND  EFFORTS. 

The  uncertainty  attending  all  classes  of  interests  and  business 
under  my  care  has  been  most  embarrassing  ;  interests  that  must 
be  cared  for;  business  that  must  be  done ;  but  to  do  which  no 
one  would  indicate  exactly  how.  I  need  not  state  how  many 
efforts  have  been  adverse  to  my  purposes,  or  how  far  the  plans  I 
have  been  required  to  execute  have  differed  from  those  I  should 
have  counseled.  It  is  due,  however,  that  I  should  state,  that  I 
have  been  entirely  deceived  in  my  own  purposes,  if  I  have  not 
endeavored  to  conduct  these  affairs,  so  new,  so  complicated  and 
perplexing,  so  far  reaching  in  their  consequences,  as  a  great  ex¬ 
periment  :  carefully  testing  each  principle,  and  abiding  by  the 
result,  with  a  single  aim  to  discharge  my  duty  to  my  country, 
by  giving  effect  to  the  relations  of  the  Government  to  these 
people ;  in  the  temporary  support  of  the  absolutely  dependent ; 
in  the  aid  of  those  able  in  some  measure  to  help  themselves,  and 
in  the  execution  of  justice  towards  all.  Nor  should  I  fail  to  add, 
that  no  one  can  feel  the  inadequate  results  of  my  efforts  as  keenly 
as  I  dp  myself. 

ASSISTANT  GENERAL  SUPERINTENDENT. 

The  importance  of  giving  my  personal  attention,  at  remote 
points,  to  difficulties,  to  plans  and  inspections,  necessitated  the 
appointment  of  Col.  Samuel  Thomas,  as  Assistant  General  Su¬ 
perintendent,  with  full  authority  to  act  in  my  absence.  This  not 
only  extended  his  duties,  but  rendered  them  more  complicated. 
He  has  limited  himself  in  his  report,  however,  to  the  operations 
in  his  own  district.  His  territory,  as  he  remarks  : 


10 


REPORT  OF  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN, 


EARLY  CONDITION  OF  VICKSBURG  DISTRICT. 

“  In  nearly  every  part  was  a  camping  ground  for  a  large  army  dur¬ 
ing  the  Vicksburg  campaign,  breaking  up  the  plantations,  scattering  the 
negroes,  and  compelling  them  to  seek  protection  and  aid,  in  large  numbers ; 
and  since  that  time  the  District  has  been  the  scene  of  campaigns  innumer¬ 
able,  made  by  small  forces  on  both  sides,  keeping  the  country  in  a  disturb¬ 
ed  and  excited  state.  Whatever  has  been  done,  has  been  accomplished  in 
the  face  of  a  guerrilla  warfare,  that  cannot  be  surpassed  for  vindictiveness 
and  cruelty.  Many  of  the  guerrillas  were  natives,  well  acquainted  with 
the  country,  and  feeling  that  they  were  driving  from  their  own  homes  the 
negroes  and  Yankees,  have  exhibited  a  ferocity  which  only  Camanches 
can  equal.” 


NATCHEZ — MAJOR  YOUNG. 

“  Our  occupation  of  Natchez  and  the  disappearance  of  many  rich 
planters,  induced  the  negroes  there,  also,  to  gather  around  our  lines  in 
thousands.  Nothing  was  done  for  their  permanent  good,  until  Major 
Geo.  W.  Young  was  appointed  my  assistant  at  that  post,  in  November, 
1863.  Unable  to  obtain  assistants,  nobly  discharging  the  duties  of  his 
office  himself,  he  introduced  cleanliness,  health  and  comfort,  into  their 
camp,  by  rebuilding  their  houses  and  adding  chimneys,  floors  and  win¬ 
dows.  In  a  few  months  he  prompted  to  industry  all  but  600  out  of  the 
5,000  reported  dependent  upon  the  Government.  He  fought  a  regular 
campaign  with  the  old  slave  ideas  and  notions  of  the  wealthy  Southern¬ 
ers  of  the  city,  defending  the  interests  of  the  black  man,  even  against 
some  of  his  superior  officers.” 

DISTRESS  AT  YOUNG’S  POINT. 

“Our  efforts  to  do  anything  for  these  people,  as  they  herded  to¬ 
gether  in  masses,  when  founded  on  any  expectation  that  they  would  help 
themselves,  often  failed ;  they  had  become  so  completely  broken  down  in 
spirit,  through  suffering,  that  it  was  almost  impossible  to  arouse  them. 
The  camp  at  Young’s  Point,  during  the  summer  of  1863,  had  been  a  vast 
charnel  house — thousands  of  the  people  dying,  without  well  ones  enough 
to  inter  the  dead.” 

Others  of  these  massive  gatherings  of  the  people  were  in 
little  better  condition.  Col.  Thomas  observes  : 

“I  hope  I  may  never  be  called  on  again  to ‘witness  the  horrible 
scenes  I  saw  in  those  first  days  of  the  history  of  the  Freedmen  in  the 
Mississippi  Valley.  Assistants  were  hard  to  get,  especially  the  kind  that 
would  do  any  good  in  our  camps.  A  detailed  soldier  in  each  camp  of  a 
thousand  people  wTas  the  best  that  could  be  done.  His  duties  were  so 
onerous  that  he  ended  by  doing  nothing.” 


11 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE. 

LABOR — ITS  EFFECT. 

“Our  first  efforts  were  to. get  the  people  at  some  kind  of  labor. 
Axes  and  teams  were  sent  to  the  camps ;  wood  cutting  and  hauling,  and 
the  erection  of  cabins  commenced;  disease  left  them;  spirit  returned; 
there  was  improvement  on  all  hands.  Plans  were  devised  to  enforce  hon¬ 
est  payment  for  their  industry  in  all  directions. 

“  A  great  deal  has  been  said  against  camping  large  bodies  of  them 
together.  We  have  endeavored  to  avoid  this  by  all  reasonable  means; 
but  humanity  said,  place  them  were  they  will  be  protected  from  guerrillas, 
even  if  there  be  greater  danger  from  disease.  Islands  were  selected. 
General  Grant  once  visited  Paw  Paw  Island,  in  the  midst  of  his  untold 
efforts,  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  the  comfort  and  enterprise  of  the 
people.  Little  was  accomplished,  however,  till  after  the  fall  of  Vicksburg. 
At  Goodrich  Landing  we  urged  the  adoption  of  the  same  simple  means  of 
industry ;  but  that  place  not  being  under  the  charge  of  this  supervision, 
no  one  was  able  to  keep  the  tottering  plan  on  its  legs.  Still  considerable 
was  done ;  though  there  were  few  visible  results,  when  the  people  were 
thrown  upon  my  hands.  Several  teachers  and  other  benevolent  persons 
were  in  the  field  aiding  us  in  fighting  the  difficulties  step  by  step ;  making 
some  perceptible  advancement,  but  so  slow  that  the  boldest  and  most  stout 
hearted  were  often  discouraged  at  the  small  results. 

“  In  reviewing  the  condition  of  the  people  at  that  time,  I  am  not 
surprised  at  the  marvelous  stories  told  by  visitors,  who  caught  an  occa¬ 
sional  glimpse  of  the  misery  and  wretchedness  in  these  camps. 

“  All  felt  that  we  were  trying  an  experiment ;  but  none  of  us  doubt¬ 
ed  final  success.  No  one  felt  that  slavery  was  a  divine  institution ;  but 
the  great  question  at  this  time  was,  whether  we  had  pursued  a  wise 
course  ?  All  did  not,  at  first,  see  that  the  devastating  influence  of  a  cam¬ 
paign  through  the  country  had  reduced  to  starvation  and  beggary,  whites 
as  well  as  blacks,  and  that  their  wretched  condition  was  but  the  natural 
result  of  the  tremendous  transition  affecting  all  colors  and  classes.  The 
only  way  for  the  negro  to  get  out  of  the  darkness  that  shrouded  his  pros¬ 
pects,  was  by  patient  toil,  and  the  slow  process  that  has  discouraged  so 
many.  The  poor  slave,  in  his  blindness,  felt  it  was  a  bad  exchange  to 
leave  the  well  filled  smokehouses  and  comfortable  cabins  of  his  master’s 
plantation,  and  get  instead,  the  crowded  tents  and  hard  fare  of  our  camps. 
Some  white  men,  who  think  liberty  and  manliness  not  worth  so  much  as 
a  full  stomach,  felt  as  the  slaves  did. 

“  New  men  were  placed  in  charge  of  the  camps,  to  take  the  places  of 
unworthy  and  inefficiency  ones,  and  every  effort  was  made  to  inaugurate 
a  new  system,  and  meet  the  demands  of  the  people  by  an  activity  on  our 
part  that  would  encourage  them  to  press  forward.” 

ARKANSAS. 

Major  Sargent  reached  his  field  of  labor  in  January,  1864. 

“  There  had  been  various  attempts  at  local  supervision  of  the  people 
in  Arkansas.  At  Helena,  before  the  place  came  under  this  supervision, 


12 


REPORT  OF  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN, 


the  experience  of  the  people  had  been  much  like  that  at  Young’s  Point; 
the  mortality,  as  is  well  known,  was  great ;  the  destitution  was  immense ; 
the  freedmen  in  a  loose,  disorganized  condition ;  no  well  regulated  system 
of  compensated  labor;  no  well  defined  authoritative  supervision.  The 
freedmen  camps  had  been  broken  up  and  destroyed  by  the  advance  and 
retreat  of  the  rebel  army.  There  were  various  changes  of  Superinten¬ 
dents,  one  of  whom,  I  understand,  never  visited  the  camps,  while  acting 
in  that  capacity.” 

Similar  statements  could  be  greatly  multiplied.  Dr. 
McCord,  Medical  Director,  ordered  a  thorough  inspection,  by 
Surgeon  Wright,  of  the  whole  field.  Dr.  Wright’s  statements 
fully  correspond  with  the  above. 

CLOTHING  PROVIDED. 

The  necessities  for  clothing  were  met,  as  far  as  possible,  by 
the  use  of  deceased  soldiers’  clothing,  turned  over  by  hospitals  in 
obedience  to  orders  from  the  Secretary  of  War,  by  Adjutant 
Gen.  Thomas  ;  by  using  the  funds  on  hand  to  bring  forward  sup¬ 
plies  from  the  North  ;  and  by  donations  received  from  various 
benevolent  sources. 

Chaplain  A.  S.  Fisk,  by  direction  of  Gen.  Grant,  was  sent 
to  represent,  to  the  loyal  public,  the  necessities  of  the  winter. 
As  the  result  of  his  efforts,  goods  to  the  amount  of  more  than 
$100,000  were  reported  forwarded  through  the  channels  of 
various  benevolent  societies. 

ARRANGEMENTS  FOR  LABOR. 

In  reference  to  former  plantation  hands,  all  looked  for  a 
supply  of  labor  on  the  soil  at  the  opening  of  the  season.  I  pro¬ 
posed  first,  that  commanders  should  indicate  the  limits  within 
which  security  could  be  assured.  Second,  that  within  these 
limits  all  negroes  able  to  conduct  independent  enterprises,  as 
lessees,  should  take  out  leases  for  small  farms  from  the  Treasury 
Department.  Third,  that  those  capable  of  such  enterprises,  but 
without  means  to  prosecute  them,  should  receive  the  needed  as¬ 
sistance  from  benevolent  individuals  or  societies  ;  or  subsistence 
and  other  incidental  aid  from  the  Government — the  amount  to 
be  deducted  from  the  first  income  of  the  crop.  Fourth,  that 
sufficient  land,  houses,  &c.,  should  be  reserved  for  shelter  and 
industry  of  all  those  necessarily  dependent.  I  had  invited  bene¬ 
volent  societies  to  come  forward  and  furnish  funds,  agents,  <fcc., 
and  provide  for  as  many  as  possible.  I  proposed  that  those  re- 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE. 


13 

maining  should  be  similarly  provided  for  by  Government.  Fifth, 
that  loyal  owners,  if  any,  still  in  possession  of  their  lands,  or 
those  parties  leasing  of  the  Treasury  abandoned  lands  within 
these  limits  of  security,  should  hire  the  Freedmen  ;  a  minimum 
rate  being  fixed,  below  which  none  should  go,  to  guard  against 
fraud  upon  the  more  ignorant,  and  above  which  prices  might 
rise  ad  libitum ,  for  all  services  of  special  value,  as  prompted  by 
competition,  each  engagement  to  be  a  bona  fide  voluntary  agree¬ 
ment  between  the  parties,  and  witnessed  by  the  proper  Superin¬ 
tendent,  the  inviolability  ol  which  should  be  strictly  enforced  by 
the  Government.  Several  benevolent  societies  indicated  a  read¬ 
iness  to  co-operate. 


BENEVOLENT  ACTION. 

Illustrative  of  a  few  things  that  were,  and  more  that  might 
have  been  done  at  this  time,  is  a  remark  of  Colonel  Thomas,  fol¬ 
lowing  his  description  of  the  distress  at  Young’s  Point. 

“  Elkanah  Beard,  agent  of  the  Indiana  yearly  meeting  of  Friends, 
came  to  me,  as  my  good  genius,  about  this  time,  and,  with  his  good  wife, 
nobly  volunteered  to  go  to  Young’s  Point,  and  commence  their  labors.  I 
remember  well  the  cold,  windy  Sabbath  morning  when  they  put  up  a  tent, 
which  I  had  given  them,  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  in  front  of  the  camp, 
and  cheerfully  began  their  work,  without  any  of  the  comforts,  and  with 
but  few  of  the  necessaries  of  life.” 

While  the  winter  was  hurrying  by,  in  addition  to  supplying 
support  and  industry  to  those  crowded  together  in  camps,  my 
officers  were  endeavoring  to  secure  justice  among  and  towards 
all  Freedmen  resident  in  cities ;  removing  all  who  had  no  visible 
means  of  support, — alike  as  the  best  means  of  providing  for 
their  individual  good,  and  securing  the  towns  against  the  preva¬ 
lence  of  small  pox  and  other  diseases.  They  were  to  introduce 
every  practicable  form  of  industry,  and  to  secure  all  possible 
governmental  and  benevolent  aid,  amid  difficulties  which  no 
others  can  know.  For  encouragement  they  had  to  look  to  their 
own  convictions  of  duty,  and  the  approbations  of  the  future. 

PROPOSED  SCHEMES, - SPECULATION. 

Various  more  or  less  impracticable  schemes  were  proposed. 
The  supreme  authorities  had  not  indicated  the  details  of  any  plan, 
notwithstanding  a  large  amount  of  capital  came  forward  to  em¬ 
ploy  labor.  Finally,  a  scheme  was  proposed,  with  far  off  excel- 


14 


REPORT  OF  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN, 


lent  ends,  possessing  some  features  already  tried  and  found  prac¬ 
ticable;  but  on  a  civil  basis,  and  combining  the  control  of  the 
property  leased,  and  of  the  people  to  be  employed,  so  in  the  same 
hands  as  to  render  impossible  the  making  of  it,  on  the  whole, 
either  practicable  for  the  employer,  devoid  as  it  was  of  protec¬ 
tion  ;  or  to  the  employee,  destitute  as  it  was  of  any  instrumen¬ 
tality  for  the  execution  of  justice  in  his  behalf,  beyond  the  ap¬ 
peal  to  the  money  motive.  The  spirit  of  speculation  ran  high. 
Parties  bid  a  considerable  per  cent,  for  the  opportunity  of  choos¬ 
ing  plantations.  The  whole  valley  was  to  be  lined  with  cotton 
fields,  cultivated  with  free,  compensated  industry.  General 
Sherman  clearly  indicated  that  only  certain  cities  and  posts  were 
to  be  garrisoned  ;  and  that  all  other  interests  must  be  subordina¬ 
ted  to  military  operations,  without  revealing  the  plans  of  the  stu¬ 
pendous  campaigns  already  devised  by  General  Grant.  Many 
of  the  more  thoughtful  capitalists  left  the  field.  General  confu¬ 
sion  was  produced,  without  means  to  inaugurate  system,  or  re¬ 
move  conflict. 

PLAN  RENDERING  FREEDMEN’S  DEPARTMENT  HELPLESS. 

This  scheme  came  in  such  a  manner,  and  was  inaugurated  by 
such  measures,  as  to  leave  this  supervision  practically  powerless 
for  good  toward  the  great  mass  of  the  freed  people,  who  were 
not  collected  in  cities.  It  assumed  such  authority,  that  the 
Freedmen  Department  could  do  nothing  but  surrender  all  juris¬ 
diction. 


CHANGE  THROUGH  ORDERS  NO.  9. 

The  confusion  continued  until  March,  1864,  wheu  Orders 
No.  9,  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  were  issued  by  Adjutant  Gen¬ 
eral  Thomas.  Col.  Thomas  observes : 

“  The  plan  of  leasing  abandoned  plantations  seems  to  have  been 
made  the  settled  policy  of  the  Government.  The  trouble  was,  as  to  the 
manner  in  which  this  should  be  done.  Several  plans  wrere  proposed. 
Gen.  Thomas  issued  Orders  9,  which  settled  the  matter  as  far  as  the  Freed¬ 
men  were  concerned,  leaving  the  leasing  of  the  plantations  to  the  Treas¬ 
ury  Department.  Our  office  made  arrangements  for  granting  permits  to 
planters  for  Freedmen  in  our  camps,  and  for  assisting  in  every  way  the 
transfer  of  all  idle  persons  from  camps  to  plantations. 

“  Plantations  were  leased  by  hundreds,  in  every  conceivable  place, 
and  as  far  out  in  the  rebel  lines  as  parties  leasing  could  hear  the  name  of 
,r  a  plantation,  and  the  few  statistics  necessary  to  procure  such  lease.  Men 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE. 


15 


from  the  North,  by  hundreds,  flocked  here  eager  to  get  a  chance  at  the 
golden  prospect,  thoroughly  convinced  that  to  get  a  lease  and  a  permit  for 
hands  was  all  that  was  to  be  done  in  order  to  secure  a  fortune.  The  Gov¬ 
ernment  would  do  the  rest. 

“  In  a  short  time  all  the  plantations  in  safe  and  accessible  localities 
were  leased ;  and  then  commenced  a  series  of  operations,  which  has  done 
more  than  anything  else  to  bring  the  plantation  business  into  discredit. 
Men  would  lease  plantations  that  they  had  never  seen,  in  hope  that  by 
some  good  stroke  of  fortune  our  armies  would  occupy  the  section  of  coun¬ 
try  in  which  they  lay,  so  that  they  could  enter  upon  the  possession  of  the 
land. 


DISAPPOINTMENT  THROUGH  MILITARY  CHANGES. 

“  At  this  time  there  were  a  good  many  outposts  around  Vicksburg, 
and  a  great  army  here,  and  quite  an  extent  of  country  protected.  The 
planters,  in  their  zeal,  thought  they  had  been  promised  that  the  army 
should  remain  here  for  their  protection ;  but  a  little  reflection,  on  their 
part,  would  have  shown  them  the  absurdity  of  such  a  notion.  Vicksburg 
and  Natchez  we  would  certainly  hold  with  garrisons ;  all  else  was  uncer¬ 
tainty  and  wild  conjecture.  A  short  time  after  these  planters  had  secured 
their  leases  they  found  this  to  be  the  case ;  as  the  outposts  were  abandoned, 
and  the  army  of  this  District  sent  to  swell  the  great  host  that  was  under 
the  leadership  of  Sherman,  then  preparing  for  the  Atlanta  campaign. 
Naturally  the  military  lines  were  contracted  to  suit  the  diminished  force. 

“  In  rushed  each  greedy  planter,  howling  about  his  rights,  the  bad 
faith  of  the  Government,  and  the  rank  injustice  of  the  Superintendents  of 
Freedmen,  in  not  compelling  the  negroes  to  stay  out  on  plantations,  where 
the  lessee  himself  would  not  risk  his  own  life  a  night. 

“  Plantations  in  safe  localities  have  had  no  trouble  in  getting  hands 
and  those  who  have  treated  their  laborers  right  have  had  no  difficulty  in 
getting  them  to  work.” 

PROVOST  MARSHALS  APPOINTED. 

For  the  purpose  of  reconciling  the  diverse  interests,  and 
making  the  most  of  the  season,  various  important  points  were 
compromised,  A  most  essential  feature  was  the  introduction  of 
a  system  of  executing  justice  on  the  plantations  by  Provost  Mar¬ 
shals  of  Freedmen.  The  following  order  made  my  General 
Assistant  Provost  Marshal  for  the  Vicksburg  District,  including 
Natchez,  with  power  to  designate  assistants  : 

HEADQUARTERS  17th  ARMY  CORPS, ) 
Department  of  the  Tennessee,  v 
Vicksburg,  Mississippi,  March  24, 1864.  ) 

SPECIAL  ORDERS  NO.  80: 

In  accordance  with  instructions  from  the  Secretary  of  War,  L. 
Thomas,  Adjutant  General,  Col.  Samuel  Thomas,  Assistant  General  Su* 


16 


REPORT  OF  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN, 


perintendent  of  Freedmen,  Department  of  the  Tennessee,  is  hereby 
appointed  Provost  Marshal  of  Freedmen  on  Plantations  for  the  District  of 
North  Mississippi. 

All  necessary  Assistant-Provost-Marshals  for  said  District  will  be 
designated  by  Col.  Thomas. 

By  order  of  Maj.  Gen.  James  B.  McPherson. 

WILLIAM  T.  CLARK, 

A.  A.  General. 


NECESSITY  OF  PROVOST  MARSHALS. 

The  necessity  for  officers  discharging  these  duties  is  manifest 
on  every  hand,  and  will  appear  fully  acknowledged  alike  in  the 
testimony  of  Planters  and  Freedmen,  of  employers  and  em¬ 
ployees.  The  number  has  been  entirely  inadequate  lor  the 
duties  imposed  upon  them.  Their  duties  were  new  and  arduous. 
Sufficient  books  and  forms  of  record,  reports,  etc.,  had  not  been 
provided.  I  quote  from  Col.  Thomas  one  of  the  many  striking 
illustrations  of  the  importance  of  their  labors: 

“  Unprincipled  men  took  advantage  of  the  negroes’  ignorance  to  im¬ 
pose  upon  their  confidence,  and  often  robbed  them  of  all  they  had.  Only 
a  few  days  since  a  negro  was  telling  me,  that  eighteen  months  ago  he  had 
ten  bales  of  cotton  of  his  own  on  his  master’s  plantation ;  that  he  was.  Maj. 
Gen.  Grant’s  servant ;  and,  blacking  the  General’s  boots  one  day,  told  him 
the  story  of  his  wrongs  and  sufferings,  ending  with  the  mention  of  this 
cotton.  The  General  sat  down  and  wrote  him  an  order  for  it,  and  ordered 
that  all  officers  should  assist  him  in  getting  it  to  market.  After  many 
ordeals  in  getting  it  hauled  and  shipped,  and  refusing  many  offers  to  buy 
it  of  him,  he  was  doomed  to  disappointment ;  in  his  own  language,  ‘  Ginst 
he  got  to  Memphis  the  cotton  was  done  gone,  and  he  never  knew  who  got 
it,  or  how  it  went.’  The  white  man  was  too  sharp  for  the  negro,  and  had 
stolen  what  could  not  be  got  in  any  other  way.  This  negro  has  carried 
on  a  plantation  for  himself  this  year,  bought  his  own  supplies,  shipped  his 
cotton,  sold  it,  put  the  money  in  his  pocket,  and  defies  any  man  to  play 
the  same  trick  on  him  again.  The  example  illustrates  the  whole  subject.” 

SUPPORT  OF  PAUPERS. 

Orders  9  did  not  specify  how  those  who  remained  dependent 
upon  the  Government  were  to  be  provided  for ;  but  we  hoped 
the  Plantation  Agents  would  meet  their  necessities,  and  allow 
the  Superintendents  to  restrict  their  efforts  to  the  execution  of 
justice  among  Freedmen  in  cities,  and  Provost  Marshals  among 
those  on  plantations.  My  officers  remained  at  their  posts, 
directed  to  use  every  instrumentality  to  prompt  the  people  to 
accept  industry  as  it  offered,  dispensing  the  supplies  that  remain¬ 
ed  to  the  dependent,  awaiting  the  coming  of  those  Agents ;  but 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE. 


17 


they  did  not  appear.  It  soon  became  manifest  that  the  army 
alone  had  either  the  instrumentalities  or  the  supplies  at  hand. 
These  had  already  been  prepared  under  my  care,  and  I  was  or¬ 
dered  to  continue  them.  The  plantation  scheme  thus  started, 
we  have  before  us  all  the  various  conditions  of  these  people,  and 
the  instrumentalities  connected  with  their  case. 

ASSISTANCE  TO  COLORED  FARMERS. 

Still  anxious  to  see  as  many  independent  negro  farmers  as 
possible,  I  directed  my  officers,  in  some  cases,  to  divide  up  lands 
under  their  control,  among  them ;  and  where  they  had  leases,  to 
guard  them  against  unprincipled  speculators;  to  assist  them  with 
necessary  subsistence,  etc.,  from-  the  Government,  taking  a  lien 
upon  the  crop  as  security  for  the  payment  of  the  same.  During 
the  period  of  confusion  and  distrust,  while  my  officers  were  under 
the  authority  of  the  proposed  scheme,  benevolent  effort  had 
given  up  the  idea  of  co-operation. 

CLASSIFICATION  OF  FREED  PEOPLE. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  many  think  of  the  Freedmen  only 
in  connection  with  abandoned  property;  and  the  amount  of 
matter,  it  becomes  necessary  to  present  in  this  Report,  in  refer¬ 
ence  to  those  on  plantations  ;  I  would  here,  especially,  call  atten¬ 
tion  to  several  classifications  of  their  condition,  which  their  care 
embraces,  showing  how  partially  they  are  or  can  be  reached  by 
any  agents  controling  only  industry  connected  with  abandoned 
property. 

First,  all  new  arrivals,  and  those  employed  as  laborers  in 
military  service,  as  hospital  attendants,  officers’  servants,  employ¬ 
ees  in  the  Commissary  and  Quartermaster’s  Departments,  etc. 
Second,  those  resident  in  cities.  Freedmen  supply  by  far  the 
larger  share  of  industrial  pursuits,  as  barbers,  hackmen,  draymen, 
porters,  carpenters,  shoemakers,  blacksmiths,  tailors,  seamstresses, 
laundresses,  waiters  in  hotels  and  private  families,  cooks,  etc. 
Not  a  few  of  these  are  men  of  wealth.  Many  conduct  enter¬ 
prises  of  their  own,  either  mechanical  or  commercial.  Some  are 
teachers.  Properly  connected,  too,  with  those  resident  in  cities, 
are  employees  and  waiters  on  steamboats,  and  stevedores.  A 
third  and  large  class  find  employment  as  wood  choppers,  on 
islands  and  at  points  of  security  along  the  river,  rendering  a  ser¬ 
vice  absolutely  essential  to  our  commercial  and  military  opera- 


18 


REPORT  OF  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN, 


tions.  This  supervision,  at  the  suggestion  of  General  Grant,  at 
the  outset,  gave  careful  attention  to  the  supply  of  this  industry. 
Fourth,  those  who  labor  on  plantations.  These  are  sub-divided  : 
First,  into  those  who  are  independent  planters  or  gardeners ; 
either  cultivating  on  shares,  or  leasing  of  the  owners  or  Govern¬ 
ment.  Second,  those  who  are  employed  by  the  owners  of  the 
lands,  or  the  whites  or  blacks  who  lease  of  the  Government.  It 
will  be  observed,  by  looking  over  these  classifications,  how  small 
a  share  have  really  any  connection  with  abandoned  lands.  Yet 
there  are  not  a  few,  who  claim  to  be  the  special  friends  of  the 
negro,  that  demand  that  the  care  of  all  Freedmen  should  be 
given  into  the  hands  of  those  agents  who  manage  abandoned 
property.  The  negro  seems,  to  them,  to  be  an  appendage  ot 
abandoned  lands. 


WANTS  OF  NEW  COMERS. 


All,  on  first  coming  to  our  lines,  need  direction  or  protec¬ 
tion  ;  and  most,  an  immediate  supply  of  food,  shelter  and  cloth¬ 
ing.  Often  they  come  on  mules,  or  horses,  or  carts,  with  more 
or  less  of  their  “  truck.”  Generally,  on  reaching  our  lines,  the 
picket  officers  relieve  them  of  all  stock ;  in  this  way,  the  Gov¬ 
ernment  has  been  supplied  with  many  thousand  mules  and  horses. 
My  officers  have  been  instructed  to  secure  to  them  the  advan¬ 
tage  of  their  stock,  unless  pressicigly  demanded  for  military  pur¬ 
poses.  Col.  Thomas  reports  the  property  saved  to  those  of  one 
arrival,  sold  and  turned  over  in  cash  to  the  respective  owners,  as 
amounting  to  $2,408.  Sometimes  the  multitude  is  great.  The 
Colonel  reports  5,000  in  his  district  from  General  Sherman’s  raid 
into  Mississippi,  and  2,500  from  the  Red  River  expedition. 

Few  can  appreciate  the  labors  devolved  upon  my  officers  by 
these  arrivals.  Speculation,  vice,  and  crime  swarm  around  the 
mass  of  infancy,  youth  and  age ;  stealing  their  little  gold  and 
silver  ;  or  decoying  them  away  to  abuse  their  ignorance,  to  ob¬ 
tain  their  services  for  nothing,  or  to  continue  their  persons  in 
the  defilement  to  which  they  have  become  accustomed  under  the 
old  system.  Nothing  but  a  military  guard  and  the  army  facility 
for  supplies  was  adequate.  However  they  come,  they  require 
prompt  attention.  Their  first  employment  is  offered  them  in 
connection  with  the  army. 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE. 


19 


FREEDMEN  OFFICERS  RECRUITING. 

The  extent  of  their  direct  military  service,  as  soldiers  and 
laborers,  is  illustrated  at  so  many  points  in  this  Report  as  to  re¬ 
quire  no  special  statement  here.  Those  first  arriving,  together 
with  those  in  military  service,  constitute  a  large  proportion  of 
the  people.  My  officers  have  frequently  observed  the  readiness 
with  which  the  able-bodied  enlist,  before  their  minds  have  been 
corrupted  by  life  at  private  service,  or  in  cities,  or  among  the 
regimental  camps.  They  have  promptly  directed  their  attention 
to  this  duty,  and  thus  contributed,  more  or  less,  to  the  organiza¬ 
tion  of  all  the  numerous  regiments  within  the  limits  of  this  su¬ 
pervision,  as  well  as  to  the  supply  of  all  fatigue  labor. 

EFFECT  OF  MILITARY  LAW. 

The  history  of  the  attempts  andhinderances,  and  finally  suc¬ 
cessful  processes,  by  which,  through  military  law,  we  have,  step 
by  step,  in  cities,  aided  the  colored  man  in  rising  from  the  debris 
which  fell  upon  him  in  the  tumbling,  broken  mass,  in  the  general 
wreck  of  old  slaveocratic  municipal  statutes,  ordinances  and 
customs,  social  and  civil,  would  be  highly  instructive  to  the 
statesman ;  but  full  details  would  be  too  voluminous,  and  I  for¬ 
bear.  Some  cities,  notwithstanding  the  acknowledged  disloyalty 
of  a  decided  majority,  were  allowed  to  keep  up  the  form  of 
electing  municipal  officers,  who  did  no  more  to  conform  to  the 
spirit  of  the  Government,  than  was  compelled  by  military  exac¬ 
tion,  especially  with  reference  to  the  negro.  Citizens  would  pay 
those  freed  under  their  old  State  laws ;  but  the  man  freed  by 
Congress,  or  the  Proclamation,  or  the  exigencies  of  war,  was 
most  different ; — was  in  their  eye  but  an  escaped  “  chattel.” 
Return  him  to  his  master  they  could  not ;  but  long  after  the  pre¬ 
sence  of  our  armies,  municipal  justice  was  dealt  out  to  him  in 
personal  abuses ;  in  the  application  of  the  lash  at  the  old  whip¬ 
ping  posts,  or  in  doubling,  for  him,  the  fines  imposed  upon  whites 
for  the  same  offences.  In  some  instances,  appeals  were  made  to 
the  established  Provost  Marshals  or  Commanders.  Not  a  few  of 
these  failed  to  secure  justice  to  the  negroes,  either  from  not 
knowing  how  to  do  it,  or  from  some  other  cause. 

DIFFICULTIES  OF  FREEDMEN  OFFICERS. 

Every  attempt  of  my  officers  to  secure  the  interests  of  these 


20 


REPORT  OF  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN, 


people,  either  in  the  payment  of  proper  wages,  or  a  fair  admin¬ 
istration  of  justice,  or  considerate  personal  treatment,  was  met 
by  all  the  force  and  violence  of  old  prejudices,  and  the  love  of 
municipal  fees,  and  the  not  unusual  expression  on  the  part  of  the 
Provost  Marshal  or  Commander,  that  the  Freedmen  officer  was 
meddling  with  that  which  was  none  of  his  business.  Meantime, 
the  law,  to  the  negro,  took  any  form  or  caprice.  Any  officer 
who  wanted  the  service  of  colored  men,  sent  out  his  guard  and 
pressed  them.  The  protection  of  no  passes  was  acknowledged. 
The  Superintendent  was  allowed  to  carry  out  his  instructions 
without  hinderance,  either  from  officials  or  citizens,  only  with  res¬ 
pect  to  those  who  were  sick  or  outcasts,  out  of  whom  nothing 
could  be  made  in  the  way  of  service  or  money. 

GENERAL  GRANT’S  EFFORTS, 

The  negro  population  floated  or  was  kicked  about  at  will  ; 
thus  constituting  the  very  best  channels  and  instrumentalities  for 
the  enemy  in  the  execution  of  their  purposes,  either  in  defeating 
the  effectiveness  of  interior  military  orders,,  or  in  passing  through 
our  lines  contraband  information  and  supplies.  My  officers,  op¬ 
pressed  with  labors  and  responsibilities,  were  reluctant  to  enter 
the  arena.  General  Grant  made  special  efforts  to  correct  the 
evils  through  the  Provost  Marshals ;  but  in  vain.  Events,  by 
degrees,  finally  brought  all  the  affairs  of  Freedmen  before  the 
Superintendents.  The  good  sense  of  all  parties  has  approved. 
The  results  are  conclusive. 

PUBLIC  SPIRIT  OF  THE  FREEDMEN. 

A  singular  fact  occurred  in  connection  with  the  collection  of 
the  tax  temporarily  required  by  Orders  63,  on  the  wages  of  the 
able-bodied,  for  the  support  of  the  sick  and  otherwise  dependent. 
It  was  thought,  at  first,  that  the  negroes  would  submit  to  its  col¬ 
lection  with  reluctance.  Instead  of  this,  however,  it  being  a  tax 
on  wages,  compelled  the  employer  and  employee  to  appear,  one 
or  both,  before  the  officer  charged  with  its  collection,  who  allow¬ 
ed  no  wages  to  go  unpaid ;  and  the  negro  soon  saw  in  it  his  first 
recognition  by  Government ;  and  although  it  appeared  in  the 
form  of  a  burden,  responded  to  it  with  alacrity  ;  thousands  finding 
in  it  the  first  assurance  of  any  power  protecting  their  right  to 
make  a  bargain  and  hold  the  white  man  to  its  fulfillment.  It  was 
most  interesting  to  watch  the  moral  effect  of  taxing  them.  They 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE. 


21 


freely  acknowledged  that  they  ought  t©  assist  in  bearing  the  bur¬ 
then  ol  the  poor.  They  felt  ennobled  when  they  found  that  the 
Government  was  calling  upon  them,  as  men,  to  assist  in  the  pro¬ 
cess  by  which  their  natural  rights  were  to  be  secured. 
Thousands,  thus  saw,  for  the  first  time,  any  money  reward  for 
their  services.  The  places  where  this  tax  was  least  rigidly  col¬ 
lected,  are  now  farthest  behind  in  paying  the  colored  man  for  his 
services. 

PASSES. 

In  carrying  forward  the  work,  in  cities,  of  bringing  the 
people  into  their  proper  relations  with  the  Government,  we 
adopted  no  complicated  machinery.  Our  effort  was,  by  the  sim¬ 
plest  processes,  to  take  things  as  they  were,  and  assure  the  blacks 
of  their  freedom  before  the  law,  the  same  as  whites.  All  whites, 
within  military  lines,  must  have  passes ;  so  must  blacks.  The 
Superintendent  of  Freedmen  knew  them  best,  and  could  best 
determine  to  whom  to  issue  passes,  permits,  etc. ;  so  they  were 
all  required  to  receive  his  signature,  either  to  remain  in  town,  or 
to  pass  the  lines  of  the  army.  At  first,  those  for  residents  were 
given  for  a  limited  period,  and  each  was  required  to  have  some 
responsible  party  vouch  for  his  conduct,  as  the  employer  for  the 
employee.  Soon  as  one’s  trustworthiness  became  established,  the 
time  was  extended  and  he  received  a  pass  or  permit,  the  same  as 
any  white  man  at  military  posts.  The  extent  to  which  this  has 
been  a  check  upon  contraband  trade  and  information,  and  prac¬ 
tices  subversive  of  social  order  and  military  discipline,  is  daily 
becoming  more  manifest.  Where  there  has  been  no  irregular 
interference  by  other  officers,  an  exact  record  has  been  kept  of 
passes  issued  to  residents  and  parties  passing  the  lines,  and  the 
number  to  each  branch  of  business  or  industry  in  which  they  are 
engaged. 

All  action  necessary  in  adjudicating  difficulties  among  the 
blacks,  or  between  whites  and  blacks,  natuially  comes  before  my 
officers.  As  I  write,  however,  cases  are  reported  to  me,  in  which 
injustice  has  resulted,  by  the  negroes  being  influenced  by  other 
parties  to  seek  redress  through  the  remaining  civil  processes. 

This  careful  bringing  under  view  the  whole  city  population, 
has  enabled  the  Superintendents  materially  to  overcome  idleness 
and  vagrancy,  and  the  vices  and  petty  crimes  connected  with 
them.  '  Major  Young  observes  that — 


22 


REPORT  OF  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN, 


“  The  pass  system  worked  like  a  charm.  When  it  was  made  known 
to  the  Freedmen  at  Natchez,  that  it  was  necessary  to  report  at  my  office 
and  register  their  names,  employment,  etc.,  2,000  reported  themselves  in 
three  days ;  and  I  verily  believe  that  they  would  all  have  reported  in  two 
hours,  had  there  been  a  sufficient  number  of  clerks  to  register  their  names 
and  give  them  passes.” 

Col.  Thomas, — stating  the  difficulties  encountered, — says : 

,p 

“  I  made  many  efforts  to  get  this  matter  of  passes  before  Commanding 
Officers,  but  never  with  success,  until  the  arrival  of  Major  General  Dana: 
Freedmen’s  affairs  are  now  conducted  by  the  proper  officers,  who  are  in 
terested  in  their  welfare.  Permits  to  engage  in  any  kind  of  labor  are 
granted,  if,  after  application  and  examination,  the  person  is  found  worthy ; 
and  to  build  houses  and  cultivate  gardens.  They  are  allowed  to  erect 
houses  only  outside  the  present  line  of  fortifications,  where  a  patch  of  land 
is  assigned  to  each  household. 

REGIMENTAL  VILLAGES. 

“  Officers  of  regiments  are  co-operating  with  us,  in  locating  the  fami¬ 
lies  of  their  men  in  a  body,  on  vacant  lands  adjoining  the  city,  where  they 
can  labor ;  and  yet  far  enough  from  the  regimental  camps  to  prevent  the 
demoralization  attendant  upon  constant  intercourse.  It  is  the  only  true 
plan  to  dispose  of  the  wives  and  children  of  our  soldiers.  It  is  an  injus¬ 
tice  to  those  who  are  fighting  in  our  armies  to  expose  their  families  to 
murder  and  re-enslavement  on  distant  plantations,  which  often  happened 
during  the  excited  speculations  in  the  early  part  of  the  year.” 

Thus,  outside  of  the  cities,  hut  within  the  limits  of  security, 
they  have  the  advantage  of  schools  and  other  civilizing  influences. 
New  comers  are  allowed  passes  for  a  short  time,  to  see  if  they 
can  provide  for  themselves.  Artisans  have  been  specially  en¬ 
couraged  to  remain  in  town.  This  population  in  cities,  and 
around  military  posts,  constitutes  by  far  the  larger  class.  Very 
many  of  those  in  cities  find  employment  as  stevedores,  waiters, 
etc.,  on  steamboats.  The  old  ideas  with  reference  to  negroes, 
manifest  no  tougher  form  than  among  boatmen.  They  were 
rough  enough  towards  any  negro  not  “  disgraced”  by  receiving 
his  freedom  during  the  war.  A  fair  compensation  for  services, 
to  him,  was  too  full  an  acknowledgment  of  the  supremacy  of 
national  authority.  Occasionally,  severe  fines  by  the  Provost 
Marshals  have  been  necessary.  The  high  wages  exacted  by 
white  boatmen,  have  not  only  necessitated  the  employment  of 
colored  men,  but  such  treatment  and  compensation  as  would  se¬ 
cure  their  services.  The  prices  paid  are  no  longer  a  subject  of 
complaint.  But  river  steamboat  customs  will  hardly  be  adjusted 
to  the  new  order  of  things  until  the  full  force  of  interest  is  felt. 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE. 


23 


EMPLOYED  IN  WOOD- YARDS. 


The  third  class — those  employed  in  wood-yards,  though  sub¬ 
ject  to  constant  variations  in  numbers,  like  those  above,  has  been 
large ;  their  work,  essential  to  the  keeping  open  of  the  river. 
Planters,  not  unfrequently  forgetful  that  without  the  commerce 
moved  by  the  fuel  furnished  by  these  laborers,  their  operations 
would  be  valueless  or  impossible,  have  demanded  that  all  wood 
choppers  should  be  forced  to  work  on  their  plantations. 

Wood  chopping  has  generally  sprung  up,  here  and  there, 
along  the  bank,  to  invite  steamboats  to  land,  and  to  secure  a  little 
gain;  or  in  connection  with  the  gatherings  of  Freedmen,  as  aided 
and  directed  by  my  assistants.  The  necessity  for  wood  has  com¬ 
pelled  us  to  encourage  wood-yards  where,  for  the  lack  of  suffi¬ 
cient  force  at  our  control,  we  were  unable  to  protect  the  rights 
of  the  people.  The  faults  charged  upon  contractors,  in  those 
localities,  are  not  those  of  inflicting  severe  punishments,  nor  of 
refusing  to  pay  for  service ;  but  of  so  reckoning  time,  fixing  rates 
or  charging  for  supplies  furnished,  and  taking  no  interest,  any 
farther  than  profit  dictated,  in  the  sick  or  otherwise  dependent, 
that  they  thus  gathered  around  them,  for  their  own  interest,  the 
able-bodied,  and  turned  aside  the  destitute  to  suffer  and  die,  or 
receive  support  from  the  Government.  As  illustrative,  I  might 
quote  what  Col.  Thomas  says  of  his  District : 

“  The  first  start  made  toward  furnishing  the  people  in  Freedmen 
camps  with  labor,  was  in  the  way  of  wood  cutting.  The  wood  'was  ne¬ 
cessary  in  supplying  fuel  to  steamers  engaged  in  transportation  of  the 
material  of  war  for  the  use  of  our  armies.  The  difficulties  surrounding 
this  enterprise  were  great ;  but,  by  diligent,  exertions,  yards  were  started 
at  Young’s  Point,  Paw  Paw  Island,  Omega  Landing  and  Island  102. 
Many  private  parties  also  started  woodyards  at  other  places  in  a  small 
way.  The  woodyards  under  this  supervision  seemed  to  point  out  the  way 
in  which  they  could  make  money.  A  grand  rush  was  thus  made  by  all 
who  could  gather  together  the  material  necessary  for  such  an  enterprise. 
One  of  the  greatest  drawbacks  experienced  in  this  work  was  the  difficulty 
of  getting  the  right  kind  of  men  to  run  the  yards, — men  who  were  capable 
of  doing  the  business,  and  yet  were  humane,  kind,  industrious  and  ener¬ 
getic.  Our  experiments  were  various  and  often  discouraging.  Few  men 
could  stand  up  to  the  labor  required  of  them,  as  they  would  have,  under 
their  charge,  a  camp  of  one  thousand  or  more  people ;  and  have  to  attend 
to  the  distribution  of  rations,  to  the  work  done,  and  to  the  general  improve¬ 
ment  of  the  camp.  It  was  not  strange  that  men  broke  down  under  the 
responsibility,  and  refused  to  perform  the  labor. 


24 


REPORT  OF  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN. 


WOODYARDS  TURNED  OYER  TO  GAPT.  RUSCH. 

“  I  am  somewhat  at  a  loss  to  get  at  the  figures,  in  order  to  give  you 
the  statistics  of  these  yards ;  but  will  give,  as  nearly  as  possible,  what  will 
be  an  approximation  to  the  different  items.  Before  doing  this,  I  should 
state,  that  in  accordance  with  an  order  issued  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  in 
March,  1864,  placing  all  woodyards  under  the  control  of  Capt.  N.  J. 
Rusch,  A.  Q.  M.,  I  turned  over  the  woodyards  September  1st.  He  had 
represented  to  the  Government  that  he  had  a  project,  by  which  he  could 
bring  thousands  of  white  laborers  into  the  Mississippi  Valley ;  and  the 
authorities,  feeling  that  such  a  project,  if  successful,  would  place  that 
number  of  men  virtually  in  the  field,  granted  him  the  necessary  authority. 

“  I  was  acquainted  with  his  idea,  and  am  sure  he  never  mentioned 
any  purpose  to  assume  charge  of  the  Freedmen  camp  woodyards,  or  to 
interfere  with  the  supervision  of  these  people.  But  his  order  was  issued 
in  March ;  time  was  passing  away ;  six  months  had  passed  without  his 
plan  doing  anything;  and  he  felt  that  something  must  be  done,  and  a 
showing  of  success,  at  least,  be  made,  or  the  War  Department  would 
become  dissatisfied  with  his  failure.  Knowing  that  the  Freedmen  wood- 
yards  were  being  conducted  very  successfully,  and  produced  large  amounts 
of  wood,  he  turned  his  attention  to  them ;  and  by  construing  his  order  as 
was  never  intended  by  the  authorities  who  issued  it,  he  demanded  that  I 
should  turn  over  to  him  the  woodyards ;  and  General  Slocum,  then  in 
command,  ordered  in  accordance  with  his  wishes. 

STATISTICS  OF  WOODYARDS. 

“  At  this  time  there  had  been  cut  in  the  District,  and  delivered  to 
steamboats,  over  60,000  cords  of  wood,  bringing  to  the  Freedmen  over 
$120,000,  and  saving  to  the  Government  an  expense  of  about  $90,000 
more,  by  selling  at  $1  50  per  cord  less  than  it  could  have  got  it  from  pri¬ 
vate  parties.  This  wood  was  cut  at  very  little  expense  to  the  Quartermas¬ 
ter’s  Department.  Teams,  wagons  and  gearing,  brought  in  by  the  negroes 
from  their  plantation  homes,  were  put  into  the  yards  by  their  owners,  who 
felt  willing  to  have  them  used  for  the  convenience  of  the  woodyards,  while 
they  were  for  their  support.  It  should  also  be  added,  that  several  thou¬ 
sand  cords  of  this  wood  were  taken  by  the  Government,  and  no  vouchers 
given  by  the  authorities  taking  it, — being  a  clean  gift  from  the  negroes  to 
the  Government. 


IMPORTANCE  OF  WOODYARDS. 

“  As  woodyard  labor  is  one  of  the  many  features  of  this  District,  and 
should  be  one  of  the  most  important  that  Freedmen  industry  is  applied  to, 
owing  to  its  manifest  necessity  in  carrying  on  military  operations,  I  must 
go  more.into  detail.  The  question  now  occupying  the  minds  of  officers  in 
charge  of  Freedmen’s  affairs,  as  well  as  of  the  Commanding  Generals,  is, 
what  is  to  be  done  with  the  negro  after  the  planting  season  is  over  ? 

“  It  is  plain  that  it  will  be  impossible  to  lease  as  large  a  number  of 
plantations  for  the  coming  season  as  were  leased  for  the  closing  year ;  nor 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE. 


25 


can  as  many  Freedmen  be  employed  on  plantations,  without  making  mil¬ 
itary  operations  subservient  to  the  cotton  raising  interest;  which  is  not  the 
intention  of  the  Government.  The  Commanding  General  has,  accord¬ 
ingly,  looked  over  the  various  plans  for  providing  labor  for  the  Freedmen, 
and  has  manifested  his  conviction  of  the  soundness  of  this  plan.  At  the 
different  Government  woodyards  in  this  District  it  is  safe  to  say,  that  over 
one  thousand  people  have  been  employed ;  in  private  enterprises  of  like 
nature,  fully  five  hundred  more  ;  making  a  working  force  of  1,500,  and  a 
dependency  of,  at  least,  as  many  more ;  so  that  the  aggregate  is  3,000. 
Now  this  can  easily  be  increased,  next  year,  to  5,000  people,  who  can  cut 
wood,  support  themselves,  and  be  no  burden  to  the  Government.  They 
can  be  placed  in  safe  localities,  where  there  is  no  danger  of  their  being 
murdered  or  carried  away ;  and  where  the  supplies,  intended  for  them,  will 
not  fall  into  the  hands  of  rebels. 

“  The  woodyards  under  my  care  were  located  in  the  vicinity  of  our 
camps ;  in  places  were  it  was  safe  for  the  working  people  and  their  friends, 
and  also  safe  for  steamers  to  land.  The  Superintendents  in  charge  used 
the  utmost  exertion  to  have  all  the  people  in  the  camps  perform  some  kind 
of  labor — the  men  chopping,  hauling,  etc. ;  the  women  loading,  unloading, 
and  cording  it  on  its  arrival  in  the  yard.  Efforts  were  made  to  combine 
all  sorts  of  labor,  whether  profitable  or  not,  as  the  Government  was  res¬ 
ponsible  for  the  support  of  the  people,  and  they  should,  in  return,  do  as 
much  as  they  could.  The  wood  was  sold  to  Government  and  private  par¬ 
ties,  the  people  paid,  and  the  balance  turned  over  to  the  Freedmen  Fund, 
and  used  for  the  purchase  of  clothing  and  other  articles  furnished  to  them, 
which  the  Government  did  not  supply.  It  was  our  intention  to  introduce, 
as  soon  as  possible,  a  system  of  machinery,  by  which  the  people  could  cut 
and  deliver  an  increased  amount  of  wood.  With  the  produce  of  lands 
which  the  camps  were  working,  and  with  the  increase  of  their  means 
otherwise,  the  people  were  drawing  fewer  rations  every  month ;  and  there 
was  good  reason  to  hope  that  they  would  soon  be  independent  and  self- 
supporting.  Rations  were  issued  to  all  alike,  and  there  was  no  attempt 
made  to  make  the  chopper  pay  for  what  he  received,  as  he  was  helping  to 
support  and  care  for  the  dependent  portion  of  the  camp,  and  should  him: 
self  be  fed  on  that  account. 

“  As  has  been  before  mentioned,  the  teams,  wagons,  etc.,  belonged  to 
the  negroes  themselves.  Such  property  was  of  all  descriptions,  and  often 
of  the  rudest  make ;  but  served  a  good  purpose.  All  these  teams  were 
taken  up  on  the  papers  of  the  Quartermaster  of  Freedmen,  so  that  forage 
could  be  drawn  for  their  support ;  and  the  property,  in  like  manner,  se¬ 
cured  to  the  people  from  seizure.  It  was  used  in  the  camps  for  the  gen¬ 
eral  welfare  of  all.  The  people  were  contented  with  this  arrangement, 
and  were  encouraged  by  the  good  faith  of  the  officers  in  charge.  Situated 
on  richly-wooded,  fertile  and  secure  islands ;  finding  a  ready  market  for 
all  they  could  produce ;  affording  not  only  a  support  to  the  people  in  them, 
but  an  opening  for  thousands  more  who  now  infest  our  military  posts,  or 
languish  on  distant  plantations;  gradually  educating  the  people,  and 
making  them  independent  and  self-reliant ;  of  no  great  expense  to  the 

4 


26 


REPORT  OF  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN, 


Government ;  they  were,  in  my  view,  among  the  most  hopeful  and  en¬ 
couraging  of  my  district. 

PLAN  OF  CAPT.  RUSCH, 

“  The  plan  was  simple,  and  claimed  no  great  advantages,  except  that 
all  the  interests  of  the  colored  people  were  kept  combined  in  the  hands  of 
one  set  of  officers ;  and  that  all  the  branches  of  industry  and  improve¬ 
ment  were  carried  along  together,  without  the  sacrifice  of  any.  The  gain 
from  wood-cutting  was  expended  in  building  houses,  supplying  tools,  etc. 
Capt.  Rusch  has  not  materially  changed  the  manner  of  conducting  this 
business.  His  Superintendent  merely  causes  the  hands  to  cut  as  much 
wood  as  possible,  and  the  teams  to  haul  it.  He  has  not  added  a  team,  nor 
sought  to  increase  the  amount  of  wood.  He  is  simply  using  the  means  of 
these  poor  people ;  and  his  policy  has  driven  away  all  private  enterprise, 
and  lessened  by  one-third,  the  amount  of  wood  cut.  Negroes  used  to  cut 
and  haul  wood  on  their  own  account,  with  their  own  teams,  for  $3  50  per 
cord ;  he  allows  them  but  one  dollar ;  and  of  course  the  intelligent  seek 
some  other  business  and  are  lost  to  this.  To  supply  their  place  he  has 
sent  many  white  refugees  who  hate  the  negroes ;  and  some  of  whom  are 
rebels,  too  cowardly  to  fight.  They  crowd  out  the  negro  and  take  posses¬ 
sion  of  the  hut  which  he  built,  forcing  him  and  his  family  to  unsafe  plan¬ 
tations,  where  the  pretentious  refugee  will  not  work.  They  hire  only  the 
able-bodied,  in  order  that  the  yard  may  pay ;  and  this  leaves  only  the  dis¬ 
abled  in  charge  of  the  Superintendent  of  Freedmen ;  and  they  even  go  so 
far  as  to  refuse  us  the  use  of  the  teams  they  have  seized,  to  draw  rations 
for  the  destitute  from  the  landing  to  the  storehouse.  They  pay  one  dollar 
per  cord  for  cutting,  and  about  twelve  dollars  a  month  for  hauling — 
deducting  cost  of  rations  and  furnishing  nothing,  but  calling  on  us  for 
clothes  for  their  hands. 

“  I  have  not  space  to  give  the  particulars  of  this  scheme.  I  have 
shown  the  injury,  both  to  the  people  and  the  Government,  of  any  attempt 
to  carry  on  these  woodyards  outside  of  this  supervision.  Capt.  Rusch  has 
tried  to  start  several  yards  near  our  camps  at  Davis  Bend,  and  met  with 
poor  success.” 

Capt.  Walker,  Superintendent  of  Freedmen  at  Memphis,  on 
account  of  the  limitations  and  infringements  of  the  land  assigned 
for  the  dependent,  crowding  all  forms  of  industry  and  enter¬ 
prise  possible — making  bricks,  cultivating  gardens,  &c.,  has  been 
able  to  do  so  much  in  no  other  way  as  in  cutting  wood. 

In  the  vicinity  of  Helena  the  yards  have  been  under  private 
control,  and  the  profits  contributed  to  private  ends,  rather  than 
to  the  support  of  the  dependent,  except  on  Island  63  and  Old 
Island.  Some  speculators,  by  temerity  in  their  location,  or  frau¬ 
dulent  practices,  have  not  only  lost  their  own  lives,  but  brought 
untold  calamities  upon  the  blacks. 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE.  27 

At  Dii  Vail’s  Bluff, — the  early  Commanders  not  having 
encouraged  the  concentration  of  negro  labor,  not  only  have  Gov¬ 
ernment  stores  rotted  by  thousands  for  the  want  of  fatigue  men 
to  handle  them ;  but  Government  has  paid  as  high  as  $2  50  per 
cord  for  wood  cutting ;  and,  sometimes,  has  been  obliged  to  call 
on  the  soldiers  to  keep  up  the  supply  for  boats  arriving  and  leav¬ 
ing  ;  thus  seriously  impairing  the  efficiency  of  the  troops,  and 
rendering  it  impossible  to  give  any  considerable  strength  to  the 
defenses.  A  different  policy  of  late  has  greatly  increased  the 
industry. 

Freedmen  supply  Government  with  wood  at  Little  Rock., 

Additional  facts,  illustrative  of  each  of  the  above  points, 
appear  at  the  different  posts.  Unquestionably  the  demands  of 
commerce  and  military  operations  fairly  met,  by  a  correct  ad¬ 
justment  of  this  industry,  according  to  some  plan  such  as  that 
already  illustrated  by  my  officers,  moditied  as  experience  may 
suggest,  will  enable  not  less  than  12,000  of  these  people  to  sup¬ 
port  themselves,  within  this  supervision,  in  safety  and  comfort, 
providing,  in  addition,  for  schools,  medicines,  etc.  Attention 
called  to  this  subject,  not  only  from  Washington,  but  by  Major 
General  Canby  and  Major  General  Dana,  gives  us  some  hope  that 
our  wishes  for  the  people  and  the  Government  are,  in  this  res¬ 
pect,  soon  to  be  realized. 

LOCATION  OF  WOOD-YARDS, - SMUGGLING. 

The  irresponsible  location  of  wood-yards  has  had  much  to 
do  with  the  landing  of  boats  at  unauthorized  points,  and  the 
communication  of  contraband  information  and  supplies  to  the 
enemy. 

Though  it  would  add  specially  to  the  burdens  of  my  offi¬ 
cers  in  charge  of  the  Freedmen,  I  am  confident  there  are  no 
others  so  favorably  situated  to  adjust  this  entire  interest.  In 
nearly  every  instance,  beyond  the  immediate  protection  of  mili¬ 
tary  posts,  islands  could  be  selected  at  appropriate  distances ; 
easily  rendered  safe  by  the  presence  of  a  company  or  so  ;  fur¬ 
nishing  an  abundant  supply  of  fuel  for  all  commercial  and  military 
purposes ;  rendering  it  entirly  inexcusable  for  boats  to  land  at 
any  other  point. 


FREEDMEN  ON  PLANTATIONS. 


In  regard  to  the  last  division  of  labor — that  of  Freedmen  on 


28 


REPORT  OF  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN, 


plantations,  so  many  questions  of  serious  military  'bearing  have 
been  raised  to  Commanders,  of  profit  and  speculation  to  capital¬ 
ists  ;  and  of  life  and  civilizing  influences  to  Freedmen,  philan¬ 
thropists  and  statesmen ;  that  I  have  taken  the  utmost  pains  to 
bring  forward  all  statistical  and  trustworthy  information  possible, 

BONDS  FOR  PAYMENT  OF  WAGES. 

The  Superintendents  and  Provost  Marshals  were  directed  to 
examine  all  books,  accounts,  &c. ;  and  if  settlements  had  not 
been  fully  and  faithfully  made  with  the  employees,  to  require 
adequate  bonds  for  the  same,  before  any  cotton  or  other  products 
of  labor  could  be  shipped.  Col.  Thomas  reports  over  two  hun¬ 
dred  of  these  bonds  filed  in  the  Vicksburg  office,  representing  a 
conditional  indebtedness  of  over  $400,000.  Lieut.  Col.  Mitchell^ 
Superintendent  of  Natchez,  reports  finding  it  necessary  to  re¬ 
quire  bonds  to  the  amount  of  $10,000  in  single  cases. 

QUESTIONS  TO  PLANTERS. 

Planters,  in  the  Vicksburg  District,  including  N atchez,  were 
questioned  by  the  Provost  Marshals. 

In  the  Helena  District,  they  met  and  answered  the  questions 
jointly,  signing  their  names.  Col.  Thomas  gives  a  synopsis  of 
the  answers  taken  down  from  one  hundred  planters.  I  make  his 
synopsis  the  basis  of  the  testimony,  noting  such  differences  as 
are  found  in  the  answers  gathered  from  the  other  Districts. 

1.  Food. — 1.  Specify  the  articles  of  food  furnished  to  your 
employees. 

Bacon,  pork,  flour,  meal,  sugar,  molasses,  salt,  some  coffee,  &c.  This 
has  often  been  varied  from,  and  in  some  cases  the  bill  of  fare  cut  down  to 
such  articles  as  it  would  be  impossible  to  live  on. 

At  Helena. — Rice,  beans,  tea,  soap,  candles  and  vinegar  have  been 
furnished  in  addition  to  the  above. 

2.  Specify  the  proportion  (or  amount)  of  each. 

All  that  the  hands  wanted. 

Helena. — Full  rations. 

3.  IIow  have  the  small  children,  infirm  parents,  or  other 
dependents  of  those  employed  by  you,  been  supplied  with  food  ? 

About  one-half  have  furnished  the  dependents  free  of  charge ;  about 
one-quarter  have  charged  the  working  hands  with  what  their  non-produc¬ 
tive  relatives  ate ;  and  the  rest  say  they  paid  no  attention  how  they  were 
furnished  with  food. 

At  Helena, — “  The  same  as  laborers.” 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE. 


29 


4.  Have  the  rations  of  the  sick  been  stopped  ? 

No :  except  in  cases  of  malingering. 

Helena.— “  They  have  not.” 

5.  What  Sanitary  stores  have  you  supplied  for  the  sick  or 
feeble  ? 

Such  articles  as  the  attending  physician  recommended;  no  great 
variety  generally ;  tea,  spirits  and  coffee  are  about  all. 

Helena. — “  Such  as  were  needed  and  to  be  had.” 

II.  Clothing. — 1.  How  has  clothing  been  furnished  to  your 
hands  ? 

Fifty-five  report,  they  have  furnished  what  was  necessary  and 
charged  it.  Twenty  did  not  furnish  it  at  all,  seeming  to  have  paid  little 
attention  to  it.  Several  claim  that  they  have  furnished  a  large  quantity  of 
clothing  gratis,  thinking  it  obligatory  on  them. 

Helena. — “  Such  as  was  necessary.” 

2.  What  profit  has  been  charged  on  the  clothing  sold 
them  ? 

One-half  sold  at  cost  and  transportation ;  one-quarter  at  15  per  cent, 
profit,  and  one-quarter  at  25  per  cent  profit. 

Helena. — “  No  profit  charged.” 

3.  What  has  been  its  quality  and  sufficiency  ? 

Of  good  quality  and  in  sufficient  quantity. 

Many  complain  that  they  are  inclined  to  take  all,  or  more  than  all, 
their  wages  in  clothes. 

Helena. — “  The  most  serviceable  quality,  and  what  was  necessary.” 

4.  What  plan  would  you  recommend  for  clothing  the 
Freedmen  on  plantations,  in  the  future  ? 

One-half  agree,  that  the  best  plan  is  to  charge  the  clothing,  and  pay 
higher  wages.  Some  think  the  present  plan  the  best. 

Helena. — “  Let  them  buy  at  their  own  discretion.” 

5.  Have  you  sold  them  any  gewgaws  or  trinkets? 

No :  is  the  universal  answer. 

Helena. — “  No  /” 

III.  Work. — 1.  How  many  hours  per  day  have  your  hands 
worked  ? 

Much  irregularity  complained  of ;  25  report  8  hours  as  an  average ; 
35  report  9  hours ;  and  40  report  10  hours. 

Helena. — “  From  6  to  8  hours.” 

2.  How  many  days  per  week  ? 

General  answer,  5£  days.  Some  say  this  is  too  high. 

Helena. — “  Not  more  than  four  days  per  week  ” 


30 


REPORT  OP  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN, 


3.  What  success  have  you  had  in  securing  industry  ? 

Seventy-five  report  no  trouble ;  15  have  failed  to  secure  good  work ; 

and  several  say  that  a  good  deal  of  driving  was  necessary.  In  general 
conversation  on  this  subject,  all  admit  they  have  worked  as  well  as  was 
expected.  Their  old  slave  habits,  so  slow  and  shiftless,  often  antagonize 
with  the  quick,  active  blood  of  the  new  Yankee  planters. 

Helena. — “  Very  poor.” 

4.  What  methods  have  you  of  securing  success. 

Moral  suasion.  None  will  admit  that  they  have  abused  the  Freed- 
men,  although  the  records  of  this  office  show  that  the  moral  suasion  some¬ 
times  consisted  in  the  use  of  a  club. 

Helena. — “  No  method.” 

5.  Have  your  people  labored  in  rainy  or  stormy  weather? 

“  No,”  is  the  universal  answer. 

Helena.— u  No.” 

6.  What  disposition  to  labor  have  they  manifested  as  a 
class  ? 

The  majority  say  that  when  not  disturbed  by  raids,  they  show  wil¬ 
lingness  to  work. 

Helena. — “  Very  little  as  a  class.” 

7.  Does  your  success  show  any  superiority  of  free  over 
slave  labor  ? 

The  planters  show  no  knowledge  of  slave  labor.  The  absence  of 
the  able-bodied  men  in  the  army,  and  the  prevalence  of  raids,  are  adduced 
as  reasons,  by  some,  why  free  labor  at  this  time  cannot  compare  favorably^ 

Helena. — “  We  have  no  means  of  comparison.” 

8.  Is  severity  of  manner,  or  profanity,  necessary  or  useful 
in  promoting  industry  ? 

Two-thirds  answer,  No.  Some  old  planters,  not  yet  clear  of  the  old 
notions,  claim  that  they  are,  and  try  to  practise  them. 

Helena. — “  Emphatically,  severity  is  necessary ;  profanity  is  not.” 

9.  Do  you  see  any  improvement  in  their  industrial  habits? 

Planters  are  about  equally  divided  on  this  subject.  Those  who  were 

capable  of  developing  this  kind  of  labor,  report  an  improvement ;  those 
who  seem  to  have  arrived  at  the  almighty  dollar  only,  and  pay  no  atten¬ 
tion  to  the  progress  of  their  hands,  report  no  change. 

Helena. — “  They  have  improved  in  industry.” 

IY.  Wages. — 1.  What  rates  have  you  paid? 

All  but  ten,  in  accordance  with  Orders  9  ;  mechanics,  &c.,  more  than 
this.  Ten  have  paid  the  highest  wages  in  full  for  services,  and  allowed 
the  hands  to  furnish  their  own  subsistence. 

Helena. — “  Rates  of  Orders  9,  as  a  rule ;  the  best  hands  more.  One 


DEPARTMENT  OP  THE  TENNESSEE. 


31 


paid  the  highest  wages  in  full,  and  allowed  the  hands  to  purchase  their 
own  subsistence.” 

2.  How  have  they  been  paid  ? 

One-half  the  wages,  (mosthly  in  the  form  of  clothes  and  other  neces- 
asry  articles,)  paid  as  the  hands  have  worked  ;  the  other  half  of  the  wages 
has  been  reserved  until  the  end  of  the  season.  Some  of  the  planters, 
however,  have  paid  up  at  the  end  of  each  month. 

Helena. — “  In  money  and  clothing.” 

3.  What  is  the  most  judicious  plan  of  compensation? 

The  planters  generally  recommend,  that  a  part  of  the  wages  be  re¬ 
tained,  as  at  present,  to  prevent  running  around ;  and  that  the  rest  be  paid 
at  stated  periods  to  the  hands,  with  which  they  may  purchase  any  rations, 
clothing  or  other  articles  needed. 

Helena. — “  Pay  them  in  money.” 

4.  Would  you  leave  the  rate  of  wages,  and  the  manner 
and  time  of  payment  entirely  to  the  agreement  of  the  parties  ? 

No ;  Government  should  fix  some  minimum  amount. 

Helena. — “  We  would.” 

5.  Would  you  classify  by  their  ages,  without  regard  to 
capacity  or  diligence,  and  thus  determine  the  pay  of  these 
classes  ? 

No ;  Age  and  sex  are  poor  criterions. 

Helena. — “  We  would  not.” 

6.  Would  you  classify  according  to  merit;  fix  a  minimum 
price  for  each  class,  and  allow  the  parties  to  contract  at  any  price 
above  that  ? 

Yes;  this  is  the  best  plan,  as  it  is  just,  reliable,  and  incentive  to  ac¬ 
tivity,  and  an  approach  to  the  method  by  which  white  laborers  are  paid 
in  the  North. 

Helena. — “  We  would.” 

V.  Sanitary  Affairs . — 1.  How  have  your  laborers  been 
supplied  with  medicines  and  medical  attendance  ? 

All  say  that  they  have  furnished  these  tilings  free.  But  I  know  that 
but  little  in  this  line  has  been  done  for  the  negro,  and  that  they  have  been 
left  to  take  care  of  themselves,  except  in  extreme  cases. 

Helena. — “  Have  kept  a  supply  of  medicine  on  each  plantation,  and 
had  a  physician  when  necessary.” 

2.  Can  you  suggest  any  better  plan  ? 

No  ;  unless  they  are  to  pay  for  all  they  get — medical  supplies  as  well 
as  other  things. 

Helena. — “  We  cannot.”  (See  concluding  remarks.) 

YI.  Schools. — 1.  To  what  extent  have  your  employees  or 
their  children  attended  school  ? 


32 


REPORT  OF  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN, 


2.  If  none,  or  very  little,  why  ? 

3.  Have  they  otherwise  received  any  instructions  ? 

The  above  questions  are  taken  together,  as  none  of  them  have  kept 
any  schoois  going  on  their  plantations,  except  a  few  Sabbath  schools ;  but 
few  books  have  been  distributed  or  sold ;  in  general  nothing  has  been  done 
by  the  planters. 

Helena. — 1.  “  To  a  very  limited  extent.” 

2.  “  It  has  been  impossible  to  procure  teachers  on  account  of  raids, 
the  want  of  and  impracticability  of  getting  houses,  the  disturbed  condition 
of  affairs,  and  the  general  disorganization  of  affairs  when  we  commenced.” 

3.  “  They  have,  in  their  moral  obligations.” 

VII.  Domestic  Relations. — 1.  How  have  the  people  ob¬ 
served  the  social  and  family  relations  ? 

Better  than  was  expected.  Parents  sometimes  manifest  a  singular 
disregard  as  to  what  becomes  of  their  children ;  but  what  more  can  be  ex¬ 
pected,  when  the  parentage  of  the  children  is  a  matter  of  great  uncertain¬ 
ty,  as  it  is  in  African  circles  ?  People  who  are  living  as  husband  and  wife, 
seem  to  be  tolerably  faithful  to  each  other,  and  those  on  plantations  near 
posts  have,  in  many  instances,  been  lawfully  married. 

Helena. — “They  have  not  shown  due  regard  for  the  family  and 
social  relations.” 

2.  Have  those  living  together  as  husband  and  wife,  been 
instructed  as  to  the  duty  of  marriage,  as  required  by  the  Order 
of  the  War  Department? 

In  almost  all  instances — No. 

Helena. — “  They  have.” 

3.  If  so,  with  what  effect  ? 

Not  having  been  instructed,  there  is  no  effect  to  talk  about. 

Helena. — “  With  good  effect.” 

4.  What  regard  for  truth  and  for  the  rights  of  property 
have  your  laborers  shown  ? 

5.  What  improvement  can  you  report  in  these  respects 
under  your  tuition  ? 

The  planters  answer  to  these  two  questions, — that  the  negroes  gen¬ 
erally  will  lie  and  steal,  and  that  they  will  improve  as  they  are  better  edu¬ 
cated  and  taught.  They  recognize  the  lamentable  influence  of  slavery  on 
the  morals  of  the  negro,  and  sometimes  say,  it  is  no  wonder  that  they 
learned  to  steal  what  should  have  been  given  them,  and  lied  to  screen 
themselves  from  barbarous  punishment. 

Helena. — 4.  “  Some  very  great ;  majority,  very  little.” 

5.  “  Very  substantial  improvement.” 

6.  Are  the  people  generally  disposed  to  remain  on  the  plan¬ 
tations,  or  to  roam  abroad  ? 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE. 


33 


Under  good  treatment,  and  when  secure  from  guerrillas,  they  cheer¬ 
fully  remain ;  but  on  exposed  plantations  they  are  restless  and  uneasy. 

Helena.—  '  As  a  rule,  they  are  now  disposed  to  remain.” 

Yin.  1.  Is  there  any  manifest  improvement  in  their  dis¬ 
position  to  labor  steadily,  as  the  season  advanced,  and  as  they 
received  compensation  ? 

(See  answers  to  4,  6  and  9,  under  “  W ork.”) 

Helena.— “  There  is.” 

2.  ITow  do  the  mixed  and  unmixed  races  compare  as  la¬ 
borers  ? 

The  unmixed  are  better  dispositioned  and  better  workers,  owing,  it 
is  supposed,  to  the  fact  that  they  have  none  of  the  chivalric  blood  of  the 
South  in  their  veins. 

Helena. — “  There  is  no  difference.” 

3.  In  the  present  disturbed  state  of  the  country  do  you 
believe  that  the  highest  interests  of  the  negro  and  his  employer 
can  be  secured  without  military  organization  and  instrumentali¬ 
ties  ? 

They  do  not. 

Helena.—  '  They  cannot .” 

4.  Ought  lessees  of  plantations  who  treat  their  laborers 
cruelly,  to  be  suffered  to  renew  their  leases  ? 

Helena. — “  They  ought  not.” 

SUGGESTIONS  OF  HELENA  PLANTERS. 

The  planters  near  Helena  conclude  their  joint  replies  by  the  follow¬ 
ing  observations : — “  Since  the  above  questions  evince  a  desire,  on  your 
part,  not  only  to  ascertain  the  true  condition  of  the  negroes,  and  the  suc¬ 
cess  of  working  them  under  the  present  system,  but  also  a  desire  to  im¬ 
prove  upon  that  system ;  we  take  the  liberty  to  suggest  some  of  the 
defects  which  our  practical  experience  has  discovered,  and  how  we  think 
they  can  be  remedied. 

“  First — There  should  be  a  tangible  power  to  compel  all  parties  to 
fulfil  their  contracts.  This  power  would  be  properly  lodged  in  a  Provost 
Marshal,  (contemplated  in  the  regulations,  but  which  we  never  had,)  whose 
duty  it  should  be  to  visit  from  plantation  to  plantation,  with  authority  to 
correct  any  and  all  abuses  practised  either  by  lessees  or  Freedmen ;  to 
compel  laborers  to  render  service ;  to  decide  upon  all  cases  of  minor  im¬ 
portance;  and  to  enforce  discipline  and  order.  This  officer  should  be 
accompanied  by  a  physician,  who  should  minister  to  the  sick,  inspect  ne¬ 
gro  quarters,  and  determine  who  should  be  exempt  from  labor  on  account 
of  sickness.  This  last  officer  has  become  a  necessity,  from  the  difficulty  of 
procuring  medical  attendance  when  needed,  from  the  want  of  adequate 
means  to  compel  the  negroes  to  keep  their  quarters  clean,  and  because 

5 


34 


REPORT  OF  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN, 


many  laborers  feign  sickness,  to  tbeir  own  positive  injury  and  the  detri¬ 
ment  of  all  parties.  These  officers  should,  above  all,  be  just  men,  and  busi¬ 
ness  men ;  and  should  be  accompanied  by  a  guard  of  two  or  four  mounted 
men,  who  would  serve  as  body  guard,  and  enable  the  officers  at  all  times 
to  execute  their  orders  with  certainty  and  despatch.  They  should  visit 
the  plantations,  because  in  the  present  condition  of  things*  the  presence  of 
power  is  required,  and  all  abuses  should  be  corrected  on  the  spot,  to  show 
the  existence  of  moral  and  physical  power.  If,  therefore,  officers  appointed 
for  these  purposes,  and  clothed  with  these  or  similar  powers,  remain  live 
or  ten  miles  distant  from  the  homes  of  the  negroes,  and  their  places  of 
labor,  they  are  of  no  practical  benefit. 

“  With  a  system  of  this  kind,  both  the  negro  and  the  lessee  will  be 
secure, — the  former  from  all  impositions  and  evil  practices  of  the  latter  ;  and 
the  latter  of  something  like  the  just  and  faithful  services  of  the  former. 
With  it,  we  think  a  good  crop  of  cotton  can  be  made,  which  will  bring  a 
large  revenue  to  the  Government,  and  at  the  same  time  secure  the  highest 
interests  of  all  parties. 

“  Second — We  should  have  a  settled,  definite  and  efficient  system  of 
protection.  A  few  men  can,  on  account  of  the  geography  of  the  country, 
protect  all  the  land  that  can  be  worked  by  the  labor  now  to  be  obtained. 

REMARKS  OF  MR.  LANDON. 

Mr.  M.  D.  Landon,  a  lessee  in  the  Helena  District,  remarks: 

“  During  the  cropping  time  of  1864  I  have  employed  from  fifty  to 
one  hundred  Freedmen ;  have  furnished  medicines  and  medical  attendance 
gratis  ;  ai\d  have  furnished  the  following  articles  of  food  at  15  per  cent, 
advance  on  Cincinnati  prices : — bacon,  meal,  flour,  pork,  mackerel,  sugar, 
molasses  and  coffee.  Clothing  has  been  furnished  to  my  employees  at 
Cincinnati  prices.  They  have  been  paid  as  follows : — women,  $16  per 
month  ;  men,  $25  per  month  ;  boys,  $20  per  month,  up  to  November  1st. 
Since  that  time  they  have  been  paid  by  the  pound,  receiving  $1  25  per 
hundred  for  seed  cotton. 

“  I  have  had  no  school,  because  the  number  of  children  (three  or  four) 
would  not  warrant  it. 

“  If  labor  is  paid  well,  it  will  work  well ;  if  paid  poorly,  the  result  will 
be  the  reverse.” 


HINDERANCES  TO  SUCCESS. 

Col.  Thomas  adds  remarks,  explanatory  and  statistical,  from 
which  I  make  extracts  : 

“  The  early  part  of  the  season  was  very  dry  ;  the  planters  did  not 
get  the  crop  in  the  ground  before  April ;  and  the  bad  seed  they  were  com¬ 
pelled  to  plant  made  a  replanting  necessary  for  large  portions.  There 
were  many  other  drawbacks  and  discouragements,  as  the  planters  were 
men  not  accustomed  to  the  business.  Freedmen  were  not  paid  during  the 
year,  but  furnished  with  food  and  clothing,  in  accordance  with  the  terms 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE. 


35 


of  the  order.  This  was  hard  for  the  negroes  to  understand,  as  they  want¬ 
ed  pay  for  their  work  as  fast  as  they  did  it.  The  clause  of  the  order  com¬ 
pelling  them  to  wait  for  their  money  till  the  end  of  the  season,  was  adopt¬ 
ed  to  prevent  their  leaving  a  place  after  contracting  to  work  on  it.  Many 
of  the  lessees,  in  the  beginning  of  the  year,  adopted  too  severe  a  mode  of 
government  for  the  hands,  savoring  of  the  old  system  ;  and  the  result  has 
been  a  failure  on  their  part  to  secure  either  the  labor  or  the  good  will  of 
the  people  under  their  charge.  The  wiser  planters  have  adopted  a  system 
of  rewards  for  faithfulness  and  industry,  and  have  aimed  to  stimulate 
them  to  exertion  through  their  love  of  approbation,  and  by  their  extra 
pay,  rather  than  through  fear. 

THE  ARMY  WORM. 

“  About  the  1st  of  September,  the  army  worm  attacked  the  cotton 
crop  in  the  Valley,  and  nearly  swept  it  away.  It  was  very  discouraging 
to  the  planters.  After  braving  all  the  perils  of  guerrilla  warfare ;  after 
months  of  hard  work ;  and  after  being  at  great  expense  in  furnishing  sup¬ 
plies  under  vexatious  trade  regulations  ;  it  was  hard  to  see  the  whole  crop 
snatched  away,  just  as  the  dazzling  dream  of  immense  wealth  began  to 
look  probable  and  real. 

PARSIMONY  OP  PLANTERS. 

“  This,  of  course,  had  its  effect  upon  the  prospects  of  the  Freedmen. 
The  planters  naturally  became  more  close  with  the  negroes,  and  it  requir¬ 
ed  more  vigilance  on  the  part  of  the  Provost  Marshal  of  Freedmen,  to 
secure  the  blacks  justice.  Many  planters,  feeling  that  they  would  not 
want  the  labors  of  Freedmen  any  more  this  year,  commenced  trying  to 
drive  them  into  the  camps  by  all  the  machinery  of  scanty  rations,  guerrilla 
scares,  quarrels,  etc.  The  clause  in  their  contract  requiring  them  to  keep 
their  employees  until  the  1st  of  January,  1865,  was  forgotten  in  an  instant. 

“  The  necessity  of  some  action,  to  prevent  these  impositions  upon  the 
negro,  and  disobedience  to  the  orders  of  the  Government,  becoming  great, 
a  Circular  was  issued  from  this  office,  calling  the  attention  of  planters  to 
the  clause  referred  to,  and  informing  them  that  they  would  be  compelled  to 
live  up  to  their  agreement.  This  had  the  desired  effect,  although  some  of 
the  meaner  sort  still  try  to  practise  the  old  game.” 

The  necessity  of  this  became  apparent,  for  the  whole  field  ; 
and  was  so  extended.  Col.  Thomas  continues : 

“  This  labor  on  plantations  has  required  a  greater  number  of  hands 
than  formerly.  For  various  reasons  they  do  not  do  as  much  work,  in  pro¬ 
portion  to  their  number,  as  under  the  old  slave  system.  All  the  able- 
bodied  men  are  in  the  army  ;  and  the  disturbed  condition  of  the  country 
fills  the  minds  of  these  old  men,  women  and  half-grown  children  with 
apprehension.  These  two  causes  are  sufficient  to  account  for  the  decrease 
in  the  efficiency  of  labor. 

“  All  people  now  coming  in  from  plantations  are  sent  to  Davis  Bend; 


36  REPORT  OF  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN, 

and  arrangements  are  made  to  charge  planters  with  rations  issued  to  such 
people,  from  the  time  they  arrive  till  the  1st  of  January,  1865. 

MONEY  PAID  TO  FREEDMEN, 

“  The  actual  amount  of  money  paid  to  these  people,  by  planters,  will  be 
small,  as  the  clause  in  Orders  9,  requiring  planters  to  furnish  clothing, was, 
unfortunately,  cut  out ;  and  at  the  rates  paid  for  clothing,  it  takes  about 
all  the  negro  can  earn  to  settle  his  bills.  This  has  led  to  discouragement ; 
as  it  is  impossible  for  him  to  reason  about  such  matters.  He  looks  only  at 
results.  He  sees  that  the  white  man  has  received  his  labor,  and  has  paid 
him  with  food  and  clothing, — about  the  same  he  used  to  get. 

“  To  give  you  an  idea  of  the  plantation  labor  performed  by  Freed- 
men  this  year,  I  have  compiled  the  following  statistics : 


Number  of  plantations .  162 

Number  of  acres  in  cultivation . .  74,981 

Average  number  of  acres  to  plantation . . .  463 


Of  this  amount  fully  one-third  was  abandoned  by  the  planters,  on  ac¬ 
count  of  the  scarcity  of  labor,  leaving  about  40,000  acres  fully  cultivated. 
On  these  plantations  there  were  9,192  Freedmen  employed,  who,  with  their 
families,  make  an  aggregate  of  about  17,500  people,  living  on  the  farms  of 
this  District.  We  expected,  confidently,  about  40,000  bales  ot  cotton  as 
the  result  of  this  season’s  labor ;  but  the  army  worm,  as  before  stated,  has 
probably  reduced  the  amount  to  about  8,000  bales.” 

CULTIVATION  IN  ARKANSAS. 

Major  Sargent  generalizes  as  follows  : 

“  No.  of  plantations  worked,  about  100. 

No  of  acres  in  cultivation,  50,270. 

Some  few  of  the  plantations  first  taken  were  abandoned,  but  were 
subsequently  taken  by  others. 

“  The  demand  for  plantation  labor  has  been  greater  than  could  be 
answered,  even  after  removing  all  blacks  from  Island  10,  and  securing 
others  from  Memphis.  The  wiser  planters  held  out  extra  inducements  by 
way  of  rewarding  industry,  by  promising  a  bale  of  cotton  or  suit  of  clothes, 
etc.  Unluckily,  the  army  worm  appeared  and  nearly  ruined  the  crops ; 
enough  was  saved,  however,  as  a  general  thing,  to  pay  expenses  and  stim¬ 
ulate  the  planter  to  try  again.  At  this  time,  all  the  present  hands  who 
desire  to  work  are  engaged  for  another  year ;  the  lessees  being  anxious  to 
secure  their  services. 

“  The  wages  of  Freedmen  will  be  paid.  Money  and  clothing  have 
been  furnished  from  time  to  time,  not  generally  to  exceed  one-half  their 
earnings,  and  the  remainder  secured  by  bonds  or  cash  deposited  in  the 
hands  of  my  Superintendents,  to  be  paid  over  when  they  adjust  the  in¬ 
debtedness  still  existing. 

“Many  of  the  lessees,  connected  with  planting,  were  discharged 
army  officers.” 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE. 


37 


PRESIDENT’S  ISLAND. 

As  before  stated,  this  Supervision  hoped  to  see  a  large  num¬ 
ber  of  negro  planters  using  their  own  capital,  or  aided  by  bene¬ 
volence  or  by  the  Government. 

President’s  Island,  below  Memphis,  originally  occupied  at 
the  suggestion  of  Gen.  Grant,  and  by  Gen.  Hurlbut’s  order,  was 
taken  away  from  our  control,  and  public  interest  sacrificed  to 
private.  Our  hopes  with  respect  to  it  were  vain.  Gen.  Dana 
has,  however,  again  opened  this  opportunity  to  the  people,  by  the 
following  Order ;  and  we  anticipate  much  for  the  coming  year. 

Head-quarters  Department  of  Mississippi, 

Memphis,  Tennessee,  Dec.  17,  1864. 

Special  Orders  Ho.  10,  Paragraph  8. 
********** 

The  exigencies  of  the  service  rendering  it  absolutely  indispensable, 
President’s  Island,  m  the  Mississippi  river  below  Memphis,  Tennessee,  is 
hereby  reserved  and  set  apart  for  the  purposes  of  the  Freedmen’ s  Depart¬ 
ment,  and  is  placed  under  the  exclusive  control  of  Col.  John  Eaton,  Jr., 
General  Superintendent  of  Freedmen,  and  such  officers  as  he  may  place 
in  charge  of  camps,  farms,  mills  or  other  interests. 

All  white  persons  not  directly  connected  with  the  military  service 
will  be  required  to  leave  the  Island  before  the  first  day  of  January,  1865, 
and  after  that  date  no  white  person  will  be  allowed  to  land  on  any  part  of 
the  same  without  written  permission  so  to  do,  either  from  these  Head- 
Quarters,  the  Head-Quarters  District  of  West  Tennessee,  the  General  Su¬ 
perintendent  of  Freedmen,  or  the  Provost  Marshal  General  of  Freedmen, 
and  none  other. 

*  *  ******  *  * 
By  order  of  Major  General  N.  J.  T.  Dana. 

T.  H.  Harris, 

Assistant  Adjutant  General. 

COLORED  CULTIVATORS  AT  HELENA. 

Near  Helena,  the  amount  and  safety  of  abandoned  lands  were  such 
as  to  lead  me  to  instruct  the  Superintendent  to  secure  a  large  interest  to 
the  negroes  as  independent  planters.  Some  forty  thousand  dollars  are  re¬ 
ported  as  the  aggregate  income  of  the  colored  lessees.  But  the  number  of 
lessees,  and  the  amount  of  their  income,  would  have  been  much  greater, 
had  my  instructions  been  in  no  wTay  thwarted.  The  parties  so  greatly  in 
opposition  in  the  Spring  are  now  fully  co-operative. 

COLORED  CULTIVATORS - DISTRICT  OF  VICKSBURG. 

Col.  Thomas  observes :  “  Many  negroes  leased  small  pieces  of  land 
from  the  Treasury  Department,  in  the  Spring,  and  have  worked  through 
the  year  with  good  success.  They  had  to  gather  up  their  stock,  material, 
&c.,  from  abandoned  plantations  near  them,  and  depend  upon  various 
sources  for  food  for  themselves  and  their  hands.  Many  have  made  ar¬ 
rangements  with  parties  in  Vicksburg  for  such  aid,  binding  themselves  to 


38 


REPORT  OF  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN, 


deliver  a  portion  of  their  crop  at  the  end  of  the  year  to  settle  the  debt. 
As  a  general  thing,  this  has  not  been  advantageous  to  the  negro ;  but  where 
injustice  was  glaring,  I  have  interfered  and  made  arrangements  to  pay 
with  the  crop  the  actual  fair  value  of  the  debt  incurred. 

“Some  of  the  negroes  had  money  at  the  end  of  last  year,  and  have 
been  able  to  pay  for  their  supplies  as  they  went  along.  These,  of  course, 
have  done  well.  They  make  more  money  than  the  white  lessee,  when 
they  are  placed  on  the  same  footing.  Their  wants  are  simple  and  easily 
supplied ;  they  have  no  expensive  vices ;  they  do  full  work  themselves ; 
and  being  of  the  same  race  with  those  they  hire,  succeed  in  getting  good 
and  steady  work  out  of  them. 

“Those  lessees,  who  have  drawn  their  supplies  from  the  Government, 
will  succeed  best,  as  they  have  received  food  at  low  rates,  and  have  been 
credited.  Thus  they  have  avoided  sacrificing  their  crops  in  advance  to 
pay  for  their  subsistence. 

“They  have  all  had  trouble  in  shipping  their  cotton.  As  regulations 
would  not  allow  them  to  sell  here  f  and  as  they  have  no  wa}r  of  sending  it 
North ;  they  have  had  to  appoint  attorneys  to  attend  to  the  business  for 
them.  They  have  not  always  succeeded  in  getting  honest  men  to  attend 
to  it ;  but,  with  the  care  we  have  exercised  in  the  matter,  I  feel  that  they 
have  generally  been  secured  in  their  rights.  The  plan  now  adopted  for 
the  shipment  of  cotton,  through  Mr.  Spelman,  if  adopted  some  time  ago, 
would  have  saved  the  people  great  loss  in  taxes,  freight,  fees,  &c. 

“The  following  are  the  statistics  on  this  subject  for  my  District.  You 
will  compare  these  statements  of  the  doings  of  Negro  lessees  with  those 
respecting  white  planters,  presented  above. 


Number  of  Plantations, . 180. 

Acres  under  cultivation, . . 5,870. 

Average  No.  of  acres  to  Plantation, .  32£. 

Number  of  hands  employed, . 380. 

and  Population  of  about . 1,500.” 


DAVIS  BEND. 

This  is  a  rich  section  of  alluvial  land,  twenty-five  miles  below 
Vicksburg,  on  the  east  side  of  the  Mississippi,  enclosed  in  a  huge 
bend  of  the  river,  as  it  turns  from  its  onward  course  westward, 
and  rounds  to  the  eastward,  running  some  twenty-eight  miles, 
and  leaving  a  neck  about  seven  hundred  yards  wide  to  join  the 
peninsula  thus  formed  to  the  mainland  of  the  State  of  Mississippi. 
It  was  noted,  before  the  rebellion,  as  the  place  where  once  resi¬ 
ded  General  Quitman,  Jeff.  Davis  and  his  brother  Joe.  The  lat¬ 
ter  was  a  man  of  wealth.  His  plantation  had  a  hospital,  jail,  a 
system  of  classification  of  hands,  and  a  kind  of  negro  judiciary 
for  the  trial  of  offences  among  his  slaves.  It  was  visited  by  for¬ 
eigners,  to  get  an  idea  of  a  model  plantation,  and  of  the  institu- 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE. 


39 

tion  in  its  most  improved  developement.  He  donated  to  his 
brother  Jeff.,  from  the  east  section  ot  his  domain,  one  thousand 
acres ;  where,  according  to  the  testimony  of  the  inhabitants,  some 
eighteen  years  ago  Jeff,  built  for  his  residence  the  house  now 
occupied  by  the  teachers  and  officers. 

GENERALS  GRANT  AND  M’PHERSON. - DERANGEMENT. 

There  are  about  nine  thousand  acres  in  the  Bend ;  seven 
thousand  under  cultivation.  Gen.  Grant,  busy  with  the  seige  of 
Vicksburg,  foreseeing  the  future,  proposed  that  this  Bend  should 
be  occupied  by  the  treedmen,  and  if  possible  “  become  a  negro 
paradise.”  Gen.  McPherson  ordered  its  occupation.  This  was 
commenced  by  Col.  Thomas.  When  the  derangement,  before 
noticed,  occurred,  through  the  Treasury  Department,  the  Quit- 
man  and  Turner  property  was  allowed,  without  the  responsibil¬ 
ity  of  this  supervision,  to  go  to  heirs,  who  took  the  oath,  but 
confirmed  it  only  by  disloyal  acts.  The  Plantation  Agents  also 
leased  land  so  as  to  exclude  the  negroes  from  the  benefit  of  a 
large  portion  of  the  Joe  Davis  lands.  With  these  disadvanta¬ 
ges,  and  the  spring  already  advanced  into  April,  Col.  Thomas  re¬ 
sumed  control  under  the  order  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  issu¬ 
ed  by  Adjutant  General  Thomas,  directed  to  me.  The  order 
was  intended  to  restore  the  land  to  the  purpose  for  which 
we  had  occupied  it.  But  coming  so  late,  all  work  having  been 
stopped  after  hundreds  of  acres  had  been  plowed,  and  other  gen¬ 
eral  preparations  considerably  advanced,  the  negroes  lost  confi¬ 
dence.  The  encroachments  of  private  parties,  by  leasing  from 
Plantation  Agents,  also  increased  the  restriction  of  the  freed- 
men. 


TIME  LOST. - ARRANGEMENTS. 

Col.  Thomas,  who  gave  himself  most  earnestly  to  the  reduc¬ 
tion  of  these  difficulties,  reports ; — 

“  Many  of  the  objections  to  the  present  plan  of  operations  could  have 
been  obviated,  had  more  time  been  given  for  maturing  plans,  getting  men 
to  fill  important  places,  and  gathering  material  to  work  with.  The  land 
was  immediately  divided  between  about  seventy  of  the  best  negroes,  giv¬ 
ing  to  each  an  average  of  over  thirty  acres.  Mules,  tools,  &c.,  were  let 
out  to  each ;  most  of  which  property  was  gathered  up  by  the  negroes  from 
deserted  plantations  in  rebeldom.  The  negro  who  took  a  piece  of  land, 
took  with  his  family  as  many  of  his  fellow  servants  as  he  thought  he  would 
need.  The  object  was,  to  furnish  every  thing  necessary  through  the  Gov- 


40 


REPORT  OF  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN, 


ernment,  charge  to  the  recipients,  and  receive  payment  from  them  at  the 
end  of  the  year. 


COLORED  PEOPLE’S  WORK. 

“The  people  entered  upon  the  work  earnestly,  laboring  early  and 
late,  with  an  energy,  industry,  and  close  calculation  of  results  that  was 
hardly  expected  of  them.  Over  two  thousand  acres  were  planted  in  cot¬ 
ton,  corn  and  vegetables,  and  steadily  worked  through  the  season.  The 
Provost  Marshal  heard  complaints,  settled  disputes,  saw  that  the  rights  of 
all  were  respected,  the  guilty  punished,  the  idle  made  to  work,  and  the  old 
and  sick  taken  care  of. 

RESULTS  OF  THEIR  WORK. 

“  About  the  middle  of  August,  their  cotton  was  in  fine  condition, 
with  a  good  prospect  of  a  thousand  bales.  But  the  army  worm  visited 
this  favored  locality,  and  was  as  successful  in  spoiling  this  prospect  as  on 
plantations  elsewhere.  This  had  a  discouraging  effect  on  the  planters,  as, 
instead  of  being  so  prosperous  as  they  had  imagined,  they  would  hardly 
have  enough  to  pay  their  bills  and  start  fair  next  season.  The  colony  has 
raised  one  hundred  and  thirty  bales,  and  has  them  ready  for  shipment. 
This  will  pay  off  each  one’s  indebtedness,  and  leave  him  from  $500  to 
$2500  for  his  year’s  work.  They  have  corn  and  vegetables  enough  to  last 
them  through  the  winter,  and  keep  their  stock  until  the  grass  grows  in  the 
Spring.  They  have  this  season  put  up  comfortable  houses,  and  have  many 
of  the  comforts  of  life  around  them.  They  have  fought  the  difficulties  of 
the  year,  and  feel  stronger  for  the  efforts  they  must  make  for  the  next. 
They  have  learned  lessons  they  will  never  forget,  and  their  experience  will 
be  worth  much  to  them  hereafter.  The  success  of  the  plan  has  induced 
Major  General  Dana  to  issue  the  following  order,  devoting  the  whole  pe. 
ninsula  to  such  purposes 

Head-quarters,  16th  Army  Corps, 

Vicksburg,  Miss.,  November  5th,  1864. 
Special  Orders,  No.  120,  Paragraph  2. 

The  following  order,  which,  for  some  unknown  reason,  has  been  dis¬ 
regarded  during  the  past  season,  is  now  reiterated  and  will  be  strictly 
enforced : 

Natchez,  Miss.,  March  28, 1864- 
Special  Orders,  No.  15.  [Extract:] 

All  the  property  in  the  Palmyra  Bend,  Miss.,  except  the  Turner  and 
Quitman  plantations,  is  hereby  reserved  for  military  purposes,  on  which 
will  be  established  a  “  Home  Farm,”  and  to  furnish  land  for  Freedmen  for 
their  own  cultivation.  The  General  Superintendent  of  Freedmen  will 
have  entire  control,  under  the  proper  military  authorities. 

By  Order  of  the  Secretary  of  War, 

(Signed,)  L.  Thomas, 

Adjutant  General. 

The  exceptions  made  in  the  Order  above,  will  no  longer  be  regarded, 
and  the  whole  peninsula  known  as  Davis  Bend,  including  the  three 
islands  known  as  “  Hurricane,”  “  Palmyra,”  and  “  Big  Black,”"  is  reserved 


DEPARTMENT  OP  THE  TENNESSEE. 


41 


for  military  purposes,  and  will  be  exclusively  devoted  to  the  colonization, 
residence  and  support  of  Freedmen. 

The  limits  described  will  easily  support  not  less  than  twenty-five 
thousand  of  that  class,  who  are  now  more  or  less  dependent  on  the  Gov¬ 
ernment;  and,  as  the  place  is  garrisoned  and  defended  with  that  intention, 
it  will  no  longer  be  suffered  to  be  used  for  private  profit,  whilst  destitute 
colored  people  are  wandering  as  -vagrants  through  the  streets  of  towns, 
are  huddled  in  localities  exposed  to  inroads  from  the  enemy,  and  are  fed 
on  Government  rations. 

Davis  Bend  is  perfectly  secured  against  attack  and  rebel  raids ;  it  is 
the  natural  home  of  the  destitute  and  needy  contraband,  where  his  labor 
will  be  easily  and  richly  rewarded  under  sure  protection.  It  was  never 
intended  that  this  security  should  be  afforded,  at  a  high  cost  to  the  Gov¬ 
ernment,  under  pretence  of  providing  a  “  Freedman’s  Home,”  in  order 
that  three  or  four  fortunate  persons  should  be  favored  with  Leases  of 
plantations  in  so  desirable  a  locality. 

The  home  of  Jefferson  Davis  is  a  suitable  place  to  furnish  the  means 
of  support  and  security  for  the  unfortunate  race  he  is  being  so  instrumen¬ 
tal  in  oppressing. 

All  white  persons  not  connected  with  the  military  service  will  be 
required  to  leave  the  above  limits  before  the  first  day  of  January,  1865, 
and  after  that  date  no  white  person  will  be  allowed  to  land  on  any  part  of 
the  same  without  written  permission  so  to  do,  either  from  these  Head- 
Quarters,  the  Head-Quarters  District  of  Vicksburg,  the  General  Superin¬ 
tendent  of  Freedmen  or  the  Provost  Marshal  General-of  Freedmen. 

Col.  Samuel  Thomas,  64th  U.  S.  Colored  Infantry,  Provost  Marshal 
General  of  Freedmen,  under  direction  of  Col.  John  Eaton,  jr.,  General 
Superintendent  of  Freedmen,  is  charged  with  the  execution  of  this  order, 
and  the  64th  U.  S.  Colored  Infantry  is  at  their  disposal  for  the  objects 
thereof. 

By  Order  of  Major  General  N.  J.  T.  Dana: 

T.  H.  Harris, 

Lieut.  Col.  and  Ass’t  Adj’t  Gen’l. 

“The  clause  of  the  General’s  order  saying,  that  for  some  cause  the 
order  of  the  Honorable  the  Secretary  of  War  has  been  disregarded,  refers 
to  a  portion  of  the  lands  leased  by  the  Treasury  Department,  before  the 
issue  of  the  order,  to  private  parties,  who  had  expended  a  large  sum  of 
money  and  made  some  improvements  on  the  land.  The  General  Superin¬ 
tendent  thought,  owing  to  this  fact,  and  the  lateness  of  the  season  when 
the  order  was  issued,  as  well  as  the  small  amount  of  material  at  our  dispo¬ 
sal  to  carry  out  the  project,  that  it  was  not  best  to  interfere  with  these 
parties. 

“The  success  of  this  enterprise  has  created  quite  a  desire,  on  the  part 
of  the  colored  people  in  this  city  to  go  into  such  a  colony  next  year.  The 
more  intelligent  part  of  the  Negro  population  are  beginning  to  see  the 
immense  advantages  of  such  a  scheme,  and  are  engaged  in  organizing  a 
colony,  which  proposes  to  take  at  least  one  thousand  acres,  divide  it  on 
the  plan  adopted  this  year,  build  their  houses,  secure  the  land  for  one  year 
certainly,  and,  if  possible,  a  sure  vested  title  to  it.  The  project  promises 
success,  and  if  carried  out  will  be  done  by  Negroes  entirely,  under  the  di¬ 
rection  of  the  proper  authorities. 

“Besides  the  colony  spoken  of  previously,  there  are  now,  on  Davis 
Bend,  many  destitute  people,  who  have  been  supplied  with  rations  by,  and 
have  done  some  work  for,  the  Government.” 

6 


42 


REPORT  OF  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN, 


PLANTATION  AGENT’S  FARM  AT  NATCHEZ. 

In  caring  for  the  dependent,  I  may  observe,  in  addition  to 
the  various  statements  above,  that  we  have  received  no  aid  from 
Plantation  Agents.  Had  they  accomplished  what  they  propo¬ 
sed,  we  should  have  been  free  from  any  such  care.  The  only 
attempt  made  by  them  was  at  Natchez.  There  they  occupied 
the  only  opportunity  for  dependent  labor  ;  but  drew  to  the  plan¬ 
tation  from  the  freedmen  village  for  the  dependent,  chiefly  of 
such  as  might  have  found  labor  for  pay  with  private  parties,  and 
prevented  any  other  effort  for  self-support  by  cultivation  of  lands 
on  the  part  of  those  who  remained. 

Soon  they  found  all  of  their  Commissary,  Quartermaster 
and  Medical  supplies  must  come  from  the  army ;  and  they  had 
neither  forms  of  business  to  correspond  to,  nor  officers  to  man¬ 
age  it.  The  sanitary  condition  of  this  so-called  home  was  con¬ 
demned  by  the  Medical  Director  of  Freedmen  at  the  time  of  his 
first  visit.  The  Plantation  Agents,  seeing  the  inexpediency 
of  managing  this  business  by  any  other  than  military  instrumen¬ 
talities,  began  early  to  ask  my  officers  to  assume  charge.  These 
officers  found  public  so  mixed  up  with  private  interests  there, 
that  they  declined  the  responsibility,  until  peremptorily  ordered 
by  Gen.  Brayman  to  assume  it.  Lt.  Col.  Mitchell  reported  that 
Government  mules,  wagons  and  rations  had  been  used  for  the 
benefit  of  private  parties. 

SCARCITY  OF  LAND  LEFT  FOR  FREEDMEN. 

From  Lake  Providence  to  Vicksburg,  embracing  a  river  line 
of  something  over  fifty  miles,  it  was  found  that  these  Agents, 
when  my  officers  were  called  upon  to  care  for  the  poor,  had  leas¬ 
ed  every  plantation  and  house,  leaving  neither  an  acre  of  soil, 
nor  a  cabin  for  the  dependent  of  the  entire  laboring  population. 

Against  all  these  difficulties,  and  the  lateness  of  the  season,  it 
will  be  seen,  from  several  statements  of  my  Assistants,  that 
the  system  adopted  for  the  support  of  paupers,  would  have  ren¬ 
dered  them  not  only  self-supporting,  but  profitable  to  the  Gov¬ 
ernment,  had  not  the  army  worm  appeared.  Notwithstanding 
this  destruction  of  the  crop,  it  is  believed  that  the  settlement  of 
the  accounts  of  the  home  at  Pine  Bluff  will  show  an  increase  to 
the  Government. 


DEPARTMENT  OP  THE  TENNESSEE. 


43 


THE  TESTIMONY  OF  FREEDMEN. 

The  generalization  of  the  testimony  of  planters  is  naturally 
followed  by  a  synopsis  of  the  statements  gathered  from  the  Freed- 
men.  The  visitation  of  a  considerable  portion  of  the  plantations, 
by  any  of  my  assistants,  was  known  to  be  especially  hazardous ; 
and  the  taking  of  the  testimony  of  the  freed  people,  in  any  form 
available  for  use,  peculiarly  difficult.  Rev.  A.  S.  Fiske,  of  known 
courage,  unyielding  integrity,  and  of  large  experience  among  the 
people,  was  selected  to  take  this  testimony.  Being  familiar  with 
all  the  discriminations  necessary  to  be  made  in  noting  their  evi¬ 
dence,  he  has  successfully  accomplished  the  difficult  task,  as  will 
be  seen  by  his  condensed  Report,  here  introduced. 

INSPECTION  BY  CHAPLAIN  FISK. 

Memphis,  Tenn.,  Dec.  8tli,  1864. 

Lieut.  John  F.  Perry, 

Adjutant  Freedmen’s  Department  : 

I  have  the  honor  to  submit  the  following  report  of  an  inspection  of 
plantations,  undertaken  in  obedience  to  Special  Oreers  No.  80,  from  your 
office. 


NUMBER  OF  PLANTATIONS. 

.The  inspection  has  covered  ninety-five  places  leased  by  whites,  and 
fifty-six  plats  of  land  worked  by  the  blacks  for  themselves,  in  the  Districts 
of  Natchez,  Vicksburg  and  Helena.  In  these  Districts,  I  have  left  but  few 
accessible  places  without  examination;  perhaps  twenty  in  all.  Little 
Rock  and  Pine  Bluff  were  not  visited,  as  letters  from  your  office  indicated 
that  your  reports  would  not  admit  the  necessary  delay. 

Immediately,  on  receipt  of  orders  assigning  to  myself  the  duty  of 
this  inspection,  I  repaired  to  Vicksburg,  and  thence,  by  Col.  Thomas’  sug¬ 
gestion,  to  Natchez,  where  there  are  twenty-one  places,  out  of  the  one 
hundred  leased,  which,  in  some  sense,  can  be  said  to  have  been  cultivated 
during  the  greater  portion  of  the  season — most  of  them  under  control  of 
a  single  cabal  of  men,  who  either  are,  or  have  been,  in  the  position  of  offi¬ 
cial  control  of  plantations.  Three  of  these  plantations  I  was  unable  to 
visit,  as,  just  then  they  were  in  actual  occupation  by  guerrillas. 

In  the  Vicksburg  District  I  found  and  examined  the  condition  of 
sixty-four  places  leased  by  whites,  and  left  without  examination  perhaps  a 
dozen  besides.  Three  hundred  and  twelve  leases  were  held  in  June. 

At  Helena,  actual  inspection  was  made  of  ten  places,  leaving  some 
half-dozen.  Yet  I  was  able  to  get  reliable  information  from  them  all. 

In  the  Memphis  District  there  are,  properly,  no  plantations  in  culti¬ 
vation. 


44 


REPORT  OF  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN, 


ANSWERS  TO  QUESTIONS. 

Answers  to  the  questions,  propounded  to  the  Freedmen  by  direction  of 
your  office,  may  be  analyzed  as  follows.  Specifications  of  each  plantation 
are  herewith  submitted : 

I.  Food. — 1.  Articles  of  food  received  from  employers? 
Ans. — All  the  articles  specified  as  component  parts  of  Freedmen’ s 


ration  (Order  No.  4,  L.  Thomas,)  have  been  issued  to  the  laborers 

on  plantations, . . . . 10. 

Pork,  meal  (or  flour)  and  salt,  on  plantations, . .  95. 

Molasses  (or  sugar)  on  plantations,.. . . . 82. 

2.  Amount  of  each  article  ? 

Ans, — Full  ration  in  all  articles  on  plantations, . .  10. 

“  “  of  salt  “  “  . 95. 

“  “  meal  (or  flour)  “  80. 

“  “  molasses  (or  sugar)  “  51. 

Half  ration  of  molasses  “  38. 

Part  “  “  meat  “  _ 85. 

3.  Supply  of  children,  infirm  and  dependent  ? 

Ans. — By  employers,  on  plantations, . . . .  37. 

By  laborers  (in  part  or  wholly)  on  plantations, _ 58. 

4.  Have  the  rations  of  the  sick  been  stopped  ? 

Aits. — No,  on  plantations, . . . 56. 

Yes,  (in  whole  or  in  part)  on  plantations,. . .  39. 

More  or  less  of  Sanitary  supplies  on  plantations, _ 18. 


II.  Clothing. — 1.  What  kind  of  clothing  has  been  furnished 
by  employers? 

Ans. — Putting  this  and  the  last  clause  of  the  next  question  together 


— The  needed  variety  and  amounts — 

on  plantations, . . .  70. 

Less  than  the  needed  variety  and  amounts, . 25. 

2.  At  what  price  has  clothing  been  furnished  ? 

Ans. — At  cost,  with  expense  of  freight,  on  plantations, . 19. 

At  from  10a25  per  cent,  advance,  “  “  . 76. 


3.  How  have  children,  sick  and  infirm,  and  old  been  sup¬ 
plied  with  clothing  ? 

Ans. — By  laborers,  or  not  at  all,  on  every  plantation ;  and  their  lib¬ 
erality  has  been  praiseworthy. 

4.  Gewgaws  and  trinkets  ? 

Ans. — There  seems  to  have  been  little  or  no  business  done  in  this 

line. 

III.  Work. — 1.  How  many  hours  per  diem  have  you 

worked  ? 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE. 


45 


Ans. — It  is  hardly  possible  to  make  an  analysis  of  the  multitudinous 
and  uncertain  answers  to  this  question.  On  some  places,  the  attempt  has 
been  made  to  get  the  full  ten  hours,  seldom  succeeding  with  any  consider¬ 
able  number  of  hands.  On  other  places,  the  effort  has  not  been  strenuous 
on  the  number  of  hours,  but  expended  in  the  endeavor  to  get  a  day’s  work 
done  in  whatever  number  of  hours  the  blacks  chose  to  work.  I  should 
not  judge  that  the  laborers  had  averaged  beyond  eight  hours  per  day. 

2.  How  many  days  per  week  ? 

Ans. — It  is  about  as  difficult  to  answer  this  as  the  former  question. 
On  some  places,  the  average  would  probably  come  as  high  as  four  and  one- 
half  or  five  days’  work  from  each  person  who  professed  to  work  that  week. 
Many  individuals  have  made  their  five  and  one-lialf  days  per  week  for 
successive  weeks.  But  many,  on  the  contrary,  have  worked  most  irregu¬ 
larly.  Five  and  a  half  days  in  any  week,  have  been  credited  a  full  week 
on  thirty-four  plantations.  Not  so  credited  on  the  remaining  sixty-one. 

3.  Treatment  from  white  men  on  plantations  ? 

Ans. — No  complaint  was  made  in  forty-eight  cases.  On  the  remain¬ 
ing  forty-seven  plantations  there  was  complaint  of  rough,  or  profane, 
or  obscene,  or  insulting  usage ;  while  blows  and  kicks  have  been  not  in¬ 
frequently  administered  on  some  ;  mainly,  I  am  happy  to  say,  by  the  old 
Southern  overseers.  A  certain  roughness  and  severity  of  manner,  how¬ 
ever,  has  been  used,  foolishly,  on  almost  all  plantations. 

4.  Have  you  worked  in  rainy  or  stormy  weather? 

Ans. — No :  except  under  cover.  But  the  laborers  have  lost  time  and 
wages  for  it  on  sixty-six  plantations.  Rainy  weather  has  been  credited  on 
twenty-nine  plantations  only — making  a  most  serious  reduction  of  month¬ 
ly  wages. 

IV.  Wages. — 1.  How  much  pay  have  you  received  during 

the  year  for  your  work? 

Ans. — As  an  average,  not  enough,  beyond  the  current  necessities  of 
selves  and  dependents  for  clothing,  to  provide  them  comfortable  apparel 
for  winter.  Of  course  the  amounts  vary  on  different  places  and  with  dif¬ 
ferent  places  and  with  different  persons.  This  most  forlorn  result  of  a 
season’s  labor  is  referable  to  the  combination  of  a  number  of  causes. 

1st.  The  loss  of  time,  resulting  from  guerrilla  incursions,  or  the  fear 
of  them ;  which  loss  is  borne  by  the  laborer  (except  in  two  honorable  in¬ 
stances — those  of  Mr.  John  S.  Harris  and  Maj.  John  Lynch);  and  which 
has  commonly  been  the  loss  of  both  wages  and  rations. 

2.  To  the  loss  of  rainy  weather  and  Saturday  afternoons,  and  by 
sickness. 

3.  To  the  loss  of  time  from  indisposition  to  labor  steadily. 

4.  To  the  destitution  of  clothing  in  which  many  of  them  came  to 
the  plantations,  and  the  necessity  for  the  purchase  of  cooking  utensils. 

5.  To  the  very  rigid  economy  in  which  the  planters  justify  them 
selves  by  the  partial  failure  of  the  cotton  crop.  Many  of  them  have  even 
proposed  to  stop  rations  and  wages  as  soon  as  the  crop  was  out.  Many 


46 


REPORT  OF  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN, 


have,  as  seen  already  by  reference  to  1.  3  and  4  above,  compelled  the  la¬ 
borers  to  support  dependents  and  the  sick.  Perhaps  the  following  calcu¬ 
lation  may  make  the  matter  clearer : 

ESTIMATE  OF  AVERAGE  RESULTS  OF  LABOR. 

The  laborers,  taken  together,  will  have  begun  work  about  March  1st. 

Cr. 

Ten  months  labor  at  $10  per  month  of  26  working  days..  $100  00 


Dr. 

Saturday  afternoons  lost,  43  half  days,  21  £  days. . .  $  8  25 

Rainy  weather  “  49  days . 15  00 

Sickness,  time  “  13  “  . . .  5  00 

Odd  days  lost  through  disinclination  to  work,  13. .  5  00 

Time  lost  by  fear*  of  guerrillas,  13  days . .  5  00 

Total  balance  of  credit  for  the  year .  61  75 


A  man  will  require  these  goods,  viz :  two  pairs  shoes,  $5 ;  1  pair 
shirts,  $5 ;  2  pairs  pants,  $6 ;  straw  and  felt  hat,  $2 ;  2  cotton  handker¬ 
chiefs,  $1  50;  2  pairs  socks,  $1  50;  1  coat,  $4;  suspenders  or  jack  knife, 
$1.  He  will  be  sure  to  expend  $5  for  tobacco.  (I  have  examined  the  ac¬ 
counts  of  some  who  had  chewed  up,  in  this  weed,  during  the  season,  $20. 
They  would  prefer  being  short  of  food,  rather  than  out  of  tobacco.)  And 
for  tea,  sugar,  soap,  candles  and  sanitary  extras,  say  $5.  Total  $36. 
Leaving  a  credit  for  cash  payment  of  $25  75,  on  condition  that  your  cir¬ 
cular  ensures  the  payment  of  wages  and  rations  to  Dec.  31st.  But  in  the 
Vicksburg  District,  at  any  rate,  it  will  not  do  that,  as  the  plantations  are 
all  broken  up  by  the  withdrawal  of  garrisons  from  the  protecting  posts. 
So  there  is  the  loss  of  December  wages,  $10,  leaving  the  balance  due  in 
cash  of  $15  75 — supposing  that  he  has  no  children  or  infirm  persons  de¬ 
pendent  upon  him.  But  suppose  he  has  these ;  or,  that  being  unaccustom¬ 
ed  to  accounts  and  untrained  to  thrift,  he  has  drawn  goods  carelessly,  or, 
bought  a  ten  dollar  coat  and  a  five  dollar  pair  of  boots — not  magnificent, 
indeed,  in  these  days ;  but  where  will  he  find  defense  against  the  severities 
of  winter ;  or,  against  the  wolf’s  approach  to  his  door  before  the  end  of 


the  first  unemployed  month  ? 

Take  a  woman’s  wages : 

Cr. 

Ten  months  work  at  $7 . . . . .  $70  00 

Dr. 

Loss  of  time,  Saturday  afternoons,  1  month . .  $  7  00 

“  “  “  Rainy  weather,  1£  “  10  50 

Sickness  of  self  and  family,  time  lost  1  month .  7  00 

Guerrillas,  time  lost  on  account  of,  £  month. . . . 3  50 

Odd  days  for  various  or  no  reasons,  £  month .  3  50 

Total  balance  of  credits . 38  50 


But  a  woman  will  require,  say  two  dresses,  $8 ;  under  garments,  $5  ; 
two  pairs  shoes,  $5 ;  hose,  $2 ;  handkerchiefs,  $1  50 ;  hat,  $2 ;  and  she 
will  expend  $3  for  tobacco  and  snuff,  and  call  it  necessary,  as  it  is  her  only 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE. 


47 


luxury  when  well,  and  $3  more  for  tea,  sugar,  &c.,  when  she  is  sick. 
Total  Dr.  $29  50  of  not  extravagant  expenditure.  Total  cash  balance  $9. 
I  have  set  the  figures  for  goods  under  the  average  prices,  and  certainly 
have  not  overrated  the  amount  of  goods  required  for  ten  months.  If  the 
woman  be  ordinarily  well,  and  have  no  fraud  practised  on  her,  and  have 
no  children,  she  will  get  scanty  rations,  poor  shelter  and  clothes,  and  nine 
dollars,  for  her  year’s  work  in  the  cotton  field !  But  suppose  she  has  a 
child — and  black  women  do  have  children,  what  then  ?  Suppose  the  rebels 
took  ofl  the  first  suit  of  clothing  she  bought,  as  they  did  from  many,  so 
that  she  was  compelled  to  buy  afresh,  what  then  ?  Suppose  fraud  to  have 
been  practised  toward  her ;  or,  in  sickness,  her  ration  charged  her ;  or, 
that  she  has  been  compelled  to  pay  for  the  rations  her  children  ate,  what 
then  ?  The  balance  due  from  the  laborer  to  the  employer  cannot  well  be 
collected :  that  is  a  mercy ! 

On  one  place,  the  manager  told  me  he  did  not  know  what  to  do 
about  discharging  his  hands,  they  were  so  much  in  debt  to  him,  and  he 
had  not  paid  them  a  dime  of  money ;  and  was  that  hour  having  their  quar 
ters  searched,  in  vain,  on  the  pretense  that  they  were  killing  his  sheep. 
They  had  eaten  them  up  clean ,  if  they  had  stolen  them. 

The  answer,  then,  to  question  1st  is — Food  and  clothing  as  they 
could  get  it. 


INSTRUCTIONS  TO  PROVOST  MARSHALS. 

I  sincerely  trust  that  your  circular  to  Provost  Marshals  will  correct 
these  abuses,  compelling  planters  to  recast  their  accounts,  so  as,  at  any 
rate,  to  give  wages  for  rainy  weather  and  guerrilla-lost  time ;  to  com¬ 
mute,  in  cash,  rations  withholden  from  dependents ;  and  to  pay  wages  to 
the  end  of  the  year. 


COMMENDABLE  LIBERALITY. 

Of  course,  the  showings  on  different  plantations  differ  widely. 
There  are  a  very  few  places — not  six — on  which  there  has  been  no  loss  of 
time  except  for  protracted  sickness,  the  planter,  by  some  generous  con¬ 
struction,  having  been  able  to  consider  each  failure  to  labor  j  ustifiable. 
On  these  the  credits  will  stand,  for  men  $100,  and  for  women  $70,  dimin¬ 
ished  only  by  charges  for  clothing ;  leaving  for  cash  payment  $64  and  $40. 

Mr.  G.  R  Newman,  an  old  slave  owner,  has  not  only  given  thus 
full  time,  but  has  given  a  suit  of  summer  clothes  to  each  of  his  hands,  at 
an  expense  of  more  than  $400.  Maj.  John  Lynch  has  distributed  to  his 
people,  gratuitously,  about  $700  worth  of  clothing,  and  given  them  full 
time  ;  and,  I  will  add,  has  spent  time  and  labor  in  all  ways  to  assist,  and 
protect  and  encourage  the  blacks  in  his  neighborhood.  Some  employers 
have  given  their  faithful  hands  small  plats  of  land  to  cultivate,  at  odd 
hours,  for  themselves.  Some  laborers  have  thus,  selling  cotton  so  raised 
to  their  employers,  realized  hundreds  of  dollars  beyond  their  wages.  In 
this  respect  the  firm  of  Ayers  and  Taylor,  of  Helena,  have  been  most 
liberal. 


48 


REPORT  OF  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN, 


2.  Have  you  received  the  amounts  promised  you  from  time 
to  time  ? 

Ans. — No ;  and  for  the  best  of  reasons.  First,  most  of  the  hands 
were  hired  on  the  promise  of  $25  for  men,  and  $18  for  women — finding 
their  own  rations.  On  no  consultation  with  them,  or  consent  of  theirs, 
that  promise  was  broken  by  authority  above  that  of  the  Freedmen  De¬ 
partment.  They  awoke  one  day  to  find  that  the  employers’  part  of 
the  contract  was  broken,  but  t heir's  kept  whole.  Now,  they  were  to  get 
$10  for  men  and  $7  for  women,  with  $3  a  month  commutation  of  clothing ; 
making  $13  and  $10.  Six  planters  only  held  to  the  former  agreement. 
So,  per  force,  they  went  on  at  work,  for  a  time,  under  the  new  arrange¬ 
ment  ;  when,  lo !  comes  another  breach  of  one  side  of  the  contract — the 
employers’ — theirs ,  as  valid  as  ever  ! — and  the  $3  commutation  for  cloth¬ 
ing  is  gone,  leaving  them  to  clothe  themselves  and  families  out  of  $10  and 
$7  per  month. 

For  the  rest,  I  think  they  have  received  in  clothing  the  half  of  their 
monthly  earnings,  and  so  the  amount  finally,  by  the  last  order  promised. 

Some  ten  planters  refused  to  take  advantage  of  the  last  reduction  in 
wages,  and  have  paid  the  promised  commutation. 

3.  Have  you  received  medical  attention  and  care  while 
working  the  plantations  ? 

Ans. — But  very  little.  Sometimes,  in  severe  sickness,  the  planters 
have  hired  medical  officers  from  the  nearest  military  posts,  but  have  ordi¬ 
narily  depended  upon  the  medical  education  of  some  old  black  woman,  or 
upon  the  yet  inferior  experience  of  the  overseer  of  the  plantation. 

A  considerable  number  of  medical  practitioners  were  employed,  early 
in  the  season,  for  the  care  of  districts  of  plantations.  Some  half  dozen  of 
these  were  captured  by  guerrillas,  and  retained  as  prisoners,  or  brutally 
murdered. 

4  and  5.  Have  there  been  schools,  or  encouragement  to 
attend  them,  on  plantations  ? 

Ans. — No.  On  two  places  I  found  schools  in  operation.  On  three 
there  were  schools  the  first  of  the  season.  On  one  a  black  woman  was 
teaching  in  a  small  way  to  the  small  advantage  of  any  body.  On  one 
other  place,  the  wife  of  the  manager  of  the  plantation  had  interested  her¬ 
self,  and  been  very  useful  in  teaching  the  children  of  the  employees.  On 
many — most  indeed — schools  would  have  been  impossible.  On  the  part 
of  the  greater  number  of  the  planters  there  does  not  appear  to  be  any  dis¬ 
position  to  educate  the  blacks. 

The  above  is  as  good  an  analysis  as  I  can  make  of  the  answers  of 
the  Freedmen  to  the  questions  which  you  furnished. 

PLANTATIONS,  PEOPLE,  CROPS. 

The  ninety-five  plantations  examined  embrace  45,745  acres  of  land, 
said  to  be  cultivated,  giving  an  average  of  418  acres  to  the  plantation. 
They  have  produced  about  4,800  bales  of  cotton,  and  perhaps  18,000  bush- 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE. 


49 


els  of  corn.  They  have  given  labor  and  support  to  8,588  people — about 
90  people  to  a  plantation.  About  twenty  plantations  I  did  not  see.  From 
some  of  them  I  hear  good  reports.  Supposing  them  to  average  with  those 
examined,  we  shall  have 

Total  number  of  acres  on  which  crops  are  made,  54,105. 


“  bales  cotton, - - -  5,910. 

“  people  supported, - 10,888. 


DEPREDATIONS. 

These  one  hundred  and  fifteen  plantations,  together  with  fifty-six 
plats  of  land  cultivated  by  blacks,  are  what  I  find  remaining  of  the  four 
hundred  and  fifty  leases,  more  or  less,  which  have  been  taken  for  the  year. 
From  the  ninety-five  safest  of  these  plantations,  on  which  cultivation  has 
been  prosecuted  for  the  season,  there  have  been  taken  by  the  rebels  2,314 
head  of  serviceable  stock,  and  967  Blacks.  (I  learn  that  since  the  break¬ 
ing  up  of  the  Post  at  Goodrich’s  and  Milliken’s,  many  more  have  been 
carried  off.)  The  Blacks  have  been  taken  back  into  the  interior  of  the 
States  and  resold  into  bondage.  The  mules  have  gone  directly  to  the  rebel 
service.  Beside  this  plunder,  they  have  carried  oft'  with  them  how  mucb 
supplies,  both  in  dry -goods  and  in  food,  it  is  impossible  to  do  more  than 
conjecture.  Nor  have  I  any  means  of  ascertaining  the  amount  of  stock 
or  the  number  of  hands  taken  from  that  greatly  larger  outlying  region,  in 
which  the  planters  have  been  utterly  broken  up,  and  their  all  lost ;  from 
which  white  and  black  alike  fled  for  life,  leaving  behind  them  all  things. 
Nor  is  it  my  sphere  to  recite  the  horrible  details  of  atrocious  murders,  per¬ 
petrated  upon  both  black  and  white,  to  which  I  have  been  a  listener  on 
many  of  these  places.  They  out-do,  in  brutal  ferocity,  the  barbarities  of 
savage  warfare.  Nor  is  it  possible  to  know  what  sums  of  money,  or  what 
amounts  of  goods,  have  sufficed  to  keep  the  marauders  from  certain  thor¬ 
oughly  exposed  but  marvelously  secure  places  ;  but  there  has  been  reason 
enough  for  the  vigilance  of  military  officers  and  commanders.  Nor  how 
thoroughly  profitable  it  has  been  to  these  murderers  and  robbers,  to  suffer 
crops  to  be  raised  outside  our  protection  altogether.  It  is  matter  of  cotn- 
mon  report,  that  not  a  few  planters  have  taken  measures  of  one  sort  or 
another,  to  get  the  “good  will”  of  those  who  could  else  have  broken  them 
up.  Some  have  stated  the  fact  to  me  plainly,  and  of  others  it  has  been 
freely  said  by  their  neighbors. 

The  above  figures  concerning  land  and  crops,  and  stock,  and  laborers,  I 
do  not  suppose  to  be  accurate.  Still  I  have  a  good  deal  of  confidence  in 
them  as  approximately  correct.  The  planters  have  not,  as  a  general  thing, 
made  their  expenses ;  and  the  whole  system  of  plantations  is  broken  up 
by  late  military  movements,  except  in  the  districts  of  Helena  and  Natchez ; 
and  the  people  are,  before  this,  gathered  in  camps  to  be  cared  for  by  the 
Government. 


BLACK  LESSEES. 

Your  reports  concerning  this  class  will,  doubtless,  be  full  from  other 
sources.  It  was  in  my  way  to  observe  them  somewhat  fully  from  Vicks- 


50 


REPORT  OF  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN, 


burg  to  Helena.  Their  tracts  of  land  ranged  from  five  acres  to  one  hun¬ 
dred  and  fifty.  There  are  many  instances  in  which  a  family  contrives  to 
get  a  good  support  from  five  acres,  farmed  with  the  hoe  alone.  Many  of 
these  add  to  their  resources  by  cutting  wood.  I  doubt  if  any  of  these 
five  acre  men  have,  for  months,  required  or  received  any  aid  from  the  Gov¬ 
ernment,  or  will  ever  require  it  in  the  future ;  unless  by  some  great  failure 
of  administrative  wisdom  they  should  be  hindered  from  procuring  land. 
How  numerous  this  class  of  cultivators  is  I  cannot  tell.  There  is  a  very 
considerable  number  between  the  Brown  and  Johnson  place  and  the 
Young’s  Point  plantation,  into  whose  condition  I  enquired  closely  enough 
merely  to  make  the  foregoing  statements.  One  old  man  I  found,  who  had 
himself,  with  his  hoe  only,  made  ten  acres  of  corn,  on  land  newly  cleared, 
and  so  a  good  year’s  wages.  He  had  lately  married  a  wife,  and  wants, 
next  year,  twenty-five  acres ;  for,  he  says  with  pride,  “  She’s  a  workin’ 
woman,  sah!”  He  ought  to  have  the  land.  There  is  no  reason  why, 
under  supervision,  this  whole  bend,  from  Young’s  upon  the  upper  side,  to 
Brown  and  Johnson’s  upon  the  lower,  may  not  be  successfully  tilled  by 
the  blacks,  in  such  a  way  as  to  remove  the  support  of  the  people  entirely 
from  the  shoulders  of  the  Government,  and  to  create  a  very  considerable 
revenue ;  while  the  whole  labor  will  be  within  the  limits  of  an  easily  se¬ 
cured  safety.  The  people,  too,  wTill  be  accessible  to  all  moral,  religious 
and  intellectual  instruction. 

In  the  districts  above,  the  tracts  of  land  occupied  by  the  blacks  are 
larger.  Of  the  whole  fifty-six  of  these  small  agriculturists  there  is  not 
one,  whom  I  have  seen,  who  has  not  made  enough  to  keep  him  comforta¬ 
bly  alive  through  the  winter ;  while  most  of  them  have  gotten  together 
teams  and  agricultural  implements,  and  such  sums  of  money  as  will  start 
them  upon  the  next  year’s  work  at  great  advantage.  The  most  successful 
of  them  all,  this  year,  has  been  Robert  Miner,  opposite  Milliken’s  Bend. 
He  cultivated  eighty  acres  in  cotton,  making  forty  bales  of  that  valuable 
fibre,  one  half  bale  to  the  acre, — the  best  crop  I  have  seen  in  my  whole 
tour.  He  made,  also,  forty  acres  of  good  corn.  In  the  Helena  district  a 
number  of  these  men  sold  their  crops,  standing,  before  the  worm  appear¬ 
ed — they  themselves  getting  out  the  crops  at  certain  wages. 


One  man  sold  his  forty  acres  for .  $8,000 

Another  “  “  twenty-four  acres  for . . . 6,000 

“  “  “  thirty  “  5,000 

“  “  “  thirteen  “  4,000 

“  “  “  twenty-five  “  4,000 


Of  the  rest,  most  sold  their  crops  in  the  seed  at  from  28  to  38  cents 
per  pound,  and  have  made,  on  ten  acres,  not  far  from  an  average  of  $500, 
beside  their  support,  and  about  the  same,  proportionately,  on  larger  tracts. 
Many  of  them  had  funds  from  the  industry  of  last  year ;  some  borrowed 
small  sums  which,  in  every  instance  but  one,  so  far  as  I  could  find,  have 
been  punctually  repaid. 

I  cannot  see  that,  in  any  particular,  these  colored  men  have  been  less 
successful  than  the  white  planters  alongside  them.  Where  they  have  em¬ 
ployed  hands,  there  is  little,  if  any,  complaint  against  them,  either  in  the 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE. 


51 


matter  of  rations,  wages,  or  usage.  Having  undertaken  small  and  man¬ 
ageable  tracts  of  land,  working  them  in  good  part  themselves,  and  em¬ 
ploying  but  a  small  number  of  hands ;  their  crops  have  been  more  fully 
worked,  and  so  have  produced  more  bountifully.  Some  of  them,  from 
small  wood-yards,  have  made  the  whole  expenses  of  their  enterprize. 
Many  of  them,  during  the  winter,  will  be  making  money  in  the  same  way. 
All  of  these  are  eager  for  the  privilege  of  cultivating  for  themselves 
another  year.  The  worm,  of  course,  has  taken  the  greater  portion  of 
their  expected  profits  this  season.  Perhaps,  however,  they  have  made  as 
much  as  was  best  for  them,  this  the  second  year  of  their  liberty.  Here¬ 
after,  they  will  be  better  fitted  to  manage  wisely  larger  profits. 

One  large  plantation  is  leased  by  a  firm — one  white  and  two  blacks. 
“  It  was  so  nominated  in  the  bond but  the  blacks  have  furnished  most 
of  the  capital,  and  that  came  near  being  their  profit  in  it.  I  do  not  think 
co-partnerships  between  white  and  black  men  are  prudent. 

SMALL  FARMS  BETTER. 

It  will  not  be  wise  to  lease  to  these  men  large  tracts  of  land ;  but  to 
all  such  as  have  proved  prudent  and  trustworthy,  such  land  as  themselves 
and  families,  with  at  most  two  or  three  assistants  each,  can  till.  Indeed, 
large  tracts  of  land  ought  not  to  be  leased  to  white  or  black.  Planters 
have  all  over-reached  themselves.  They  have  planted  great  tracts  for 
abandonment.  They  have  spread  themselves  over  two,  three,  thirteen 
huge  plantations,  putting  neighbors  at  a  great  distance,  isolating  them¬ 
selves,  making  defense  impossible ;  keeping  great,  unmanageable,  mixed 
troops  of  laborers ;  massing  at  isolated  and  indefensible  points  scores  of 
mules  and  great  stores  of  valuable  supplies;  insomuch  that  the  rebels  have 
not  been  willing  to  break  the  thing  up  entirely,  when  they  might,  for  the 
depot  of  supply  it  furnished  for  the  mere  trouble  of  riding  to  it. 

Small  tracts  of  land,  necessitating  a  closely  settled  population  for 
purposes  of  defense,  and  dispensing  with  great  stores  of  supplies  for  easy 
rebel  seizure,  is  the  only  way  to  secure  an  occupancy  of  territory,  which 
will  be  of  any  service.  Planters  themselves  are  unanimous  in  the  con¬ 
viction  that  they  have  contributed  to  their  own  misfortunes  by  the  too 
magnificent  extent  of  territory  they  have  attempted  to  cover. 


GARDENS. 


It  was  designed  by  the  authorities,  that  small  guarden  plats  should 
be  assigned  to  each  family  of  the  laborers.  Some  of  the  planters  have 
complied  with  that  design.  Yet  such  consideration  of  the  comfort  of  the 
laborers  has  availed  them  little  ;  as  the  soldiers  of  the  neighboring  garri¬ 
sons  have  been  deterred,  neither  by  discipline  nor  principle,  from  appro¬ 
priating  the  entire  product  of  their  labor.  The  same  impossibility  has 
stood  in  the  way  of  their  raising  poultry  or  pigs  ;  privileges  from  which, 
in  the  olden  time,  they  derived  no  small  advantage.  It  is  doubtful  wheth¬ 
er,  on  the  whole,  they  have  lived  more  bountifully  than  on  well-managed 
plantations  in  the  past. 


52 


REPORT  OF  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN. 


EDUCATION.  , 

In  reference  to  Educational  interests,  the  plantations  are  not  favora¬ 
ble.  Many  of  them  are  so  much  exposed,  that  to  attempt  to  locate  teach¬ 
ers  upon  them  would  be  rashness.  Not  a  few  of  the  planters  utterly  scout 
the  idea  of  education.  The  cultivation  of  plantations  is  a  mere  temporary, 
speculative  venture.  The  whole  spirit  ot  such  operations  is  fatally  oppos¬ 
ed  to  these  plans  for  the  culture  and  elevation  oftbe  laborers. 

Of  religious  instruction,  they  have- had  none. 

Of  moral  instruction,  with  rare  exceptions,  none. 

Not  even  the  plain  and  fundamental  provisions,  which,  in  all  camps 
and  towns,  have  been  made  for  lawful  marriage,  have  been  regarded  upon 
the  farms. 

I  cannot  find  that  any  general  effort  has  been  made  for  the  enlight¬ 
enment  of  the  people  in  any  direction.  In  matters  of  prudence  and  econ¬ 
omy,  they  often  have  not  known  the  cost  of  the  articles  they  bought.  No 
wise,  kind  oversight  has  been  had  of  their  household  affairs  or  modes  of 
life.  Of  course  there  are  exceptions  to  these  sweeping  negations;  but  no 
class  of  men,  engaged  in  pushing  their  fortunes  in  hazardous  ventures  of 
this  sort,  will  stop  for  educational  or  moral  effort  among  the  people.  The 
experience  of  this  year  will  be  that  of  all  years. 

LABOR. 

Upon  this  point  the  testimonies  of  the  planters  areas  various  as  their 
characters,  and  depend  quite  as  much  upon  their  own,  as  upon  the  dispo¬ 
sition  of  their  employees.  For  employers,  who  have  succeeded  in  inspir¬ 
ing  the  blacks  with  confidence  in  their  integrity  and  humanity,  they  have 
been  willing  to  render  faithful  service.  I  do  not  remember  an  instance, 
where  I  have  been  regaled  by  tbe  planter  with  complaints  of  the  worth¬ 
lessness  of  his  hands,  in  which  an  examination  of  his  hands  did  not  reveal 
a  most  thorough  lack  of  confidence  in  the  integrity,  or  want  of  respect 
for  the  capacity,  of  the  planter. 

Of  course  there  are  differences  in  the  value  of  these  laborers.  Those 
who  have  been  most  tossed  about  from  camp  to  camp  are  least  desirable. 
Those  who  have  come  from  distant  localities,  and  suffered  great  hardships 
meanwhile,  are  peculiarly  liable  to  disease ;  are  subject  to  an  acclimating 
process ;  and  so  their  efficiency  as  laborers  decreased.  They  have  under¬ 
gone  so  many  breakings-up  as  to  have  become  unsettled,  and,  to  a  consid¬ 
erable  extent,  unsteady.  The  best  laborers  are,  ordinarily,  those  who  have 
remained  quietly  upon  their  old  places,  and  there  render  their  services,  for 
hire,  to  new  employers.  Those  on  farms  most  remote  from  camps  of  sol¬ 
diers  or  freed  people,  are  most  steady  and  serviceable.  The  older  are 
likely  to  be  worth  more  than  the  younger.  Probably  the  majority  of  val¬ 
uable  male  laborers  are  above  forty-five  years  of  age.  The  black  man 
does  not  break  down  to  unfitness  for  labor  earlier,  at  any  rate,  than  the 
white.  Among  the  women,  the  most  valuable  laborers  are  from  thirty  to 
forty-five.  T  suppose  the  vices,  of  their  former  and  of  their  present  con- 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE. 


53 


dition,  press  more  sorely  upon  the  women  than  upon  the  men ;  and  upon 
the  younger  than  the  middle-aged. 

EFFECTS  OF  GUERRILLA  OPERATIONS. 

The  whole  matter  of  securing  efficient  labor  upon  these  plantations 
has  been  confused  by  the  perpetual  fear,  with  which  the  situation  has  been 
encompassed.  There  is  scarely  one  of  them  all  which  has  escaped  guer¬ 
rilla  atrocities.  The  greater  proportion  of  the  whole  number  have  been 
entirely  and  finally  broken  up ;  while  upon  the  remainder  every  condi¬ 
tion  of  contented  labor  has  been  broken.  On  a  large  number  of  these 
latter  the  crops  have  been  cultivated,  for  months  past,  by  partly  or  wholly 
new  sets  of  hands — large  numbers  of  the  original  laborers  having  been 
taken  off.  Panics  and  stampedes  have  been  of  continual  occurrence. 
Peopie  and  planters  have  fled  for  their  lives,  often  leaving  dead  and  cap¬ 
tives  behind  them.  Actual  or  apprehended  attacks  have  deterred  from 
labor  for  days  and  even  weeks  together ;  and  kept  the  lessees  themselves 
inside  of  fortified  places  for  long  intervals,  in  which  they  dared  not  show 
their  faces  upon  their  plantations.  Many  lessees  have  been  captured — not 
a  few  murdered  with  all  the  circumstances  of  fiendish  cruelty.  The  won¬ 
der  is  that  the  whole  labor  of  these  guerrilla-infested  regions  has  not  be¬ 
come  demoralized  and  entirely  worthless.  My  inspection  took  me  to  sev¬ 
eral  places  on  which  no  stock  had  been  kept  for  months,  and  over  which 
roamed,  at  will,  parties  of  from  three  to  fifty  of  these  marauders.  One 
morning  as  I  was  riding  to  the  York  &  Fletcher  place,  opposite  Natchez, 
1  met  the  body  of  Mr.  Knight,  pierced  by  ten  balls,  who  was  murdered 
the  night  before,  on  the  place  this  side  of  that.  Two  other  whites  and 
one  black  beside  were  killed.  A  little  further  on  we  met  the  wounded 
blacks  being  brought  in.  One  old  man  of  seventy  winters,  with  white  hair 
and  beard,  and  ghastly  with  blood,  bore  patiently  three  severe  wounds. 

Not  unfrequently  as  we  approached,  on  horseback,  the  negro  quar¬ 
ters,  we  caught  sight  of  the  blacks  scattering  to  the  weeds  like  frightened 
hares — so  timid  have  they  become  on  these  haunted  grounds. 

SEVERITY  AND  OLD  OVERSEERS. 

Many  planters  have  considered  that  a  course  of  severity  was  neces¬ 
sary  to  secure  labor.  Looking  for  “experience”  in  the  management  of 
blacks,  and  in  the  making  of  cotton,  some  of  them  have  employed,  as  they 
should  not,  on  any  terms,  have  been  allowed  to  do,  old  overseers.  Many 
of  these,  in  manners  and  morals,  in  their  words  and  acts,  have  showed  a 
thorough  itching  after,  and  an  uncomfortable  tendency  toward,  the  old 
system.  The  lash  has  not  been  used  in  any  case ;  blows,  and  kicks,  and 
cuffs  are  not  as  uncommon  as  could  be  desired.  There  are  but  few  of 
these  overseers  who  know  anything  of  the  black,  except  as  he  cowers 
under  the  lash, — a  thing  owned  and  driven  like  an  ox.  Out  of  that  condi¬ 
tion  they  misunderstand  him  fatally. 

f  As  to  the  making  of  cotton,  that  has  not  been  the  overseer’s  sphere. 


54 


REPORT  OF  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN, 


He  is  to  “manage  the  niggers.”  The  crop  and  the  making  of  it  is  better 
understood  by  the  more  intelligent  of  the  latter  than  by  him. 

The  old  slave  overseer  ought  to  be  laid  aside.  He  is  an  appendage  free¬ 
dom  abhors ;  he  and  all  his  manners.  On  most  of  the  plantations  a  plan 
of  roughness  and  harshness  of  manner  has  been  purposely  adopted,  which 
will  not  be  tolerated  at  all  by  laborers  who  have  come  into  the  full  con¬ 
ception  that  they  are  free.  The  shallow  mistake  is  made — that,  too,  by 
very  sensible  men,  that  this  harsh,  insulting  manner  carries  with  it  some 
efficiency  of  a  real  authority.  The  mistake  is  gross.  No  people  detect  so 
infallibly  the  reality  of  a  white  man,  under  all  his  shows,  as  do  these.  The 
weight  and  dignity  of  a  real  authority  has  been  vastly  lessened,  while  the 
respect  of  the  black  man  for  himself  and  for  us  has  been  sadly  weakened 
by  it.  A  judicious  plan  of  rewards  and  kindness  has  worked  better,  where 
it  has  been  tried,  than  this  weak  show  of  tyranny  and  roughness.  Confi¬ 
dence  and  respect  will  inspire  labor.  Some  employers  have  so  won  that, 
that  their  people  have  chosen  to  leave  their  money  in  their  hands  to  the 
end  of  the  year,  and  have  done  them  good  work  in  spite  of  manifold 
discouragements. 


MILITARY  OVERSIGHT  NEEDFUL. 

Yet  no  one  thing  is  made  clearer,  by  the  observation  of  many  groups 
of  laborers,  than  this :  that  the  more  constant  oversight  of  a  real  authority 
is  needful,  both  for  the  protection  of  the  planter  and  that  of  the  black. 
Dering  the  year  now  closing  the  provost  marshals  have  been  too  few.  Had 
half  the  places  leased  been  continued  under  cultivation,  it  would  have  been 
impossible  for  the  officers,  charged  with  the  protection  and  government  of 
the  laborers,  to  reach  them  effectually.  Even  with  the  work  circumscribed 
by  the  operations  of  the  guerrillas,  the  necessary  amount  of  care  could  not 
be  extended  to  the  remaining  places. 

The  complaints  arising  between  planter  and  laborer  are  endless.  The 
laborer  is  accused  as  lazy,  as  vicious,  as  impudent,  as  thievish  or  a  liar,  as 
quarrelsome,  as  a  breeder  of  discontent.  The  planter  is  accused  of  keep¬ 
ing  false  time,  overcharging  for  goods,  giving  short  rations,  refusing  to 
feed  dependents,  neglecting  the  sick,  severity,  insults  and  blows.  Half 
these  complaints,  on  both  sides,  would  be  prevented  by  the  knowledge 
that,  if  made,  some  competent  authority  would  at  once  seek  for  their 
foundation,  and  apply  the  remedy. 

Half  the  real  causes  of  complaint  would  never  occur,  were  the  author¬ 
ity  for  appropriate  correction  at  hand.  In  the  absence  of  possible  civil 
authority,  the  military  authority  must  be  very  easily  accessible,  for  the 
protection  of  the  planter  and  his  interests,  by  the  removal  or  punishment 
of  those  who,  fed,  insist  on  being  idle ;  those  wTlio  are  breeders  of  vice  and 
discontent ;  and  who  commit  offences  against  good  order  or  good  morals. 
The  exercise  of  this  authority  is  as  essential  to  the  education  of  the  black, 
as  to  the  protection  of  the  planter.  On  the  other  hand,  the  protection  and 
content  of  the  laborer  requires  that  this  authority  be  constantly  present, 
to  enforce  the  issue  of  proper  rations,  the  support  of  the  dependent,  the 
care  of  the  sick,  the  keeping  of  true  accounts  of  time  and  of  goods,  the 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE. 


55 

punctual  payment  of  wages,  and  the  correction  of  every  abuse  practised 
upon  the  laborer  by  his  employer.  The  presence  of  military  authority,  in 
the  person  of  a  military  Provost  Marshal,  is  needed  every  week,  on  every 
plantation,  both  by  planter  and  laborer ;  and  the  bare  presence  of  such  au¬ 
thority  would  accomplish  most  of  the  required  results.  Not  only  is  the 
necessity  evident  to  an  observer,  but  felt  and  asserted,  with  entire  unanim¬ 
ity,  by  both  black  and  white.  Some  of  the  most  intelligent  of  the  planters 
have  insisted,  urgently,  that  if  they  cultivate  next  year,  they  will  gladly 
pay  the  expense  of  an  officer,  and  his  guard  of  four  or  six  mounted  men, 
for  every  six  to  ten  plantations — he  being  required  to  visit  each  plantation 
at  least  once  in  each  week,  and  hear  and  adjust  all  complaints.  I  think 
this  would  be  the  unanimous  wish  of  all  who  have  worked  lands  this  year ; 
and  certainly  this  is  the  crying  need  of  the  whole  throng  of  laborers.  For 
the  prevention  of  injustice  to  them,  they  too  could  well  afford  to  bear  all 
the  expense  of  this  administration  of  justice.  This  year,  the  universal 
complaint  is  that  the  Provost  Marshal  districts  have  been  too  large,  and 
the  duty  of  the  officers  too  much  complicated  with  other  affairs ;  so  that 
neither  of  the  interested  parties  could  get  easy  access  to  him.  His  office 
should  be  in  the  saddle,  and  his  court,  the  gallery  of  each  plantation-house  ; 
while  his  guards  should  be  at  hand  to  enable  him  to  execute  his  awards. 

SETTLEMENTS  AND  MEDICAL  ATTENDANCE. 

The  final  settlements  for  this  year,  in  accordance  with  your  circular, 
are  a  matter  of  great  importance,  involving  much  labor  of  the  Provost 
Marshal  sort.  The  proper  care  of  the  sick,  and  charge  of  sanitary  affairs, 
requires  that  each  Provost  Marshal  District  should  have  a  Medical  officer, 
who  should  be  in  control  of  all  sanitary  affairs  on  the  plantations ;  who 
should  use  his  authority,  as  in  the  military  service,  to  carry  out  and  com¬ 
pel  the  observance  of  his  sanitary  regulations,  both  by  planter  and  labor¬ 
er.  This  year  it  has  been  impossible  for  the  plantations  to  reach  medical 
assistance  ;  and  the  planters  have  had  no  authority  to  keep  the  quarters  or 
the  persons  of  their  laborers  in  good  sanitary  condition.  As  a  conse¬ 
quence,  great  numbers  have  died.  I  have  been  on  plantations  where  near¬ 
ly  half  the  people  have  died.  The  small-pox  has  prevailed  very  extensive¬ 
ly.  On  one  plantation,  where  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  people  were 
employed,  there  were  forty-seven  deaths  previously  to  November  15tli. 
Thirty-three  of  these  were  fifteen  years  or  under ;  seven,  sixty  years  or 
over ;  and  seven,  between  fifteen  and  sixty. 

Had  my  time  been  adequate,  I  would  gladly  have  taken  statistics 
upon  these  matters,  but  could  not.  I  have  merely  made  such  observations 
and  enquiries  as  my  other  objects  permitted. 

WAGES. 

The  compensation  of  labor  is  of  capital  importance  in  any  view  of 
the  plantation  system.  My  opinions,  with  reference  to  the  plan  of  negroes 
purchasing  their  own  supplies,  have  been  completely  changed  by  the  ob¬ 
servations  made  in  these  places.  There  were  two  reasons  for  thinking  it 


56 


REPORT  OF  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN, 


unwise  to  require  the  black  to  purchase  his  supplies : — 1st.  The  opportu¬ 
nity  it  gave  the  white  to  steal  from  the  black  by  overcharges.  2.  The  in¬ 
ducement  it  offered  the  black  to  steal  from  all  colors,  to  reduce  the  expen¬ 
ses  of  living.  But  the  chance  for  cheating  in  a  book  account  is  not  one- 
tenth  as  great  as  in  the  issue  of  rations  to  the  hands  each  week.  By  this 
plan,  the  laborer  gets  what  he  wants,  and  has  a  direct  object  in  economy 
and  the  use  of  his  spare  hours  in  productive  industry.  When  food  is  a 
part  of  the  hire,  then  just  that  much  of  the  wages  is  made  every  idle  day ; 
which  is  unjust  to  the  planter,  and  unfortunate  to  the  black.  Let  his  wages 
depend  entirely  on  his  work.  Employers  and  laborers  are  alike  decided 
and  unanimous  in  their  conviction  in  favor  of  this  plan  of  supplies,  with 
a  corresponding  increase  of  rate  of  compensation.  The  same  desires  are 
held  in  reference  to  supply  of  clothing.  The  proper  supervision  will  ob¬ 
viate  all  difficulties.  The  employers  should  be  required  to  furnish  all 
needed  supplies  at  cost,  on  plantation,  letting  their  only  profit  from  the 
laborer  be  his  labor. 


CHANGE  OF  RATES  OF  WAGES. 

In  February,  authority  in  Freedmen’s  affairs  passed  from  the  Trea¬ 
sury  Department  into  military  hands,  but  not  into  control  of  the  Freed- 
men  Department.  The  plantation  system  had  gone  too  far  to  be  with¬ 
drawn.  New  regulations  were  adopted — better,  in  many  respects,  and 
safer  than  the  former ;  but  making  a  change  of  wages.  The  new  rates 
were  $13  and  $10  per  month,  and  rations  provided.  It  was  hardly  to  be 
expected  that  the  black  would  see  the  propriety  of  this  change.  But  he 
had  no  remedy.  Presently  comes  another  change  of  terms.  Three  dol¬ 
lars  per  month  are  stricken  from  these  rates,  leaving  the  laborers  to  pro¬ 
vide  clothing  from  their  earnings  of  $10  and  $7  per  month.  About  the 
equity  of  these  two  changes  the  blacks  are  still  in  doubt. 

At  the  time  of  these  changes,  labor  was  frantically  sought  in  all  di¬ 
rections.  Visions  of  fortunes  were  floating  before  all  planters’  eyes.  The 
only  trouble  was  scarcity  of  laborers.  A  quarter  of  a  million  of  acres, 
more  or  less,  are  waiting  to  sprout  fortunes  under  every  stroke  of  the  hoe. 
Planters  would  have  paid  forty  and  fifty  dollars  per  month  rather  than 
not  have  had  the  hands.  All  men  seemed  mad.  Guerrillas  were  a  light 
matter;  uncertainty  of  protection,  nothing.  Cotton  seed  and  land  to  scat¬ 
ter  it  on,  and  blacks  to  gather  in  the  golden  fibre — and  lo !  Golconda ! 
Planters  were  demanding,  at  the  doors  of  every  military  office,  that  labor¬ 
ers  should  be  driven,  by  force  of  steel  or  hunger,  to  their  plantations.  Then, 
too,  the  black  man  was  the  only  one  in  whom  was  left  a  shred  of  reasona¬ 
ble  prudence.  He  knew  they  wished  to  take  him  to  regions,  where  neither 
liberty  nor  life  were  safe  an  hour ;  and  was  unwilling  to  take  such  perils 
for  such  reward.  v  It  is  strange  that  where  really  involuntary  labor,  in 
peril  of  liberty  aud  life,  was  so  clamorously  sought  and  confidently  look¬ 
ed  to  as  the  certainty  of  dazzling  fortunes  to  the  speculators,  wages  were 
placed  at  what  was  a  bare  equivalent  for  food,  clothes,  and  shelter.  The 
fears  of  the  blacks  have  been  more  than  realized.  The  meanest  show  of 
all,  is  the  evident  endeavor  of  many  of  these  adventurers,  when  the  golden 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE. 


57 


dream  was  past,  by  every  small  economy  to  make  the  black  laborer  bear 
a  heavy  part  of  their  losses. 

It  is  sincerely  to  be  hoped  that,  hereafter,  labor  may  compete  in  the 
open  market ;  that  demand  and  supply  shall  regulate  prices ;  and  that  lib¬ 
erality  and  justice,  practised  this  year,  may  have  the  due  advantage  of  their 
good  repute  among  the  laborers. 

UNIFORM  RATE  OF  WAGES  UNJUST. 

No  .uniform  rate  of  wages  is  just.  If  supplies  are  furnished  laborers 
and  dependents,  above  the  fixed  rate,  why  then,  the  man  with  many  de¬ 
pendants  receives  much  more  than  he  who  lias  none.  It  is  not  just,  that 
a  man  faithful,  diligent,  and  efficient,  should  have  no  advantage  over 
another  who  is  worthless.  Wages  “ad  valorem”  must  be  the  law. 

PLANTING  NEXT  YEAR. 


Any  planting  system  next  year,  must  be  of  small  extent  and  import 
ance.  No  sane  man  will  lease  again  in  the  regions  which  have  been 
abandoned  this  year.  Yet  to-day  there  are  not  fifty  plantations,  from 
Natchez  to  Columbus,  on  which  any  planter  can  stay  himself,  or  retain  or 
feed  a  laborer.  But  the  little  safe  land  inside,  or  close  to  military  lines, 
must  not  be  leased  from  underneath  the  feet  of  the  blacks.  Such  a  plan 
would  give  employment  to  a  few  blacks,  leaving  the  mass  of  them  on  the 
hands  of  the  Government  still.  The  possible  extent  of  the  scheme  is  too 
narrow  to  make  it  a  matter  of  any  considerable  importance  to  the  Gov¬ 
ernment. 


WHO  SHOULD  RE  ALLOWED  TO  LEASE? 

Who  should  be  allowed  leases?  Plainly  no  one  of  that  carping 
grumbling  throng  of  men,  who  have  filled  the  air  about  every  military 
officer’s  ears  with  the  buzz  of  their  curses;  who  have  “waited,”  and 
“remonstrated,”  and  “petitioned,”  and  “appealed,”  and  “protested”  against 
the  necessary  stringency  of  military  rules;  and  would  have  had  all  mili¬ 
tary  operations  devoted  to  the  safety  of  their  plantations  and  the  making 
of  their  private  fortunes ;  and  who  are  angry  with  military  authorities  be¬ 
cause  they  must  have  permits  for  goods  to  go  outside  the  lines ,  and  must 
have  passes  to  get  through  the  lines,  and  all  that  class  of  senseless  nui¬ 
sances.  Not  one  of  those  who  have  secured  the  safety  of  their  plantations 
by  “understandings,”  and  “interests,”  and  “bonuses,”  with  and  to  guerril¬ 
las,  should  touch  an  acre  of  land  again.  No  man  who  has  dealt  unjustly 
in  rations,  in  wages,  in  the  keeping  of  time,  or  in  the  personal  usage  of 
their  hands,  should  touch  them  again.  No  man,  who  sums  up  the  result 

°f  his  year’s  experience  with  the  blacks  in  this  too  common  formula _ 

“Damn  the  nigger  ”  should  have  the  opportunity  to  get  further  experience 
of  them. 


8 


58' 


REPORT  OF  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN, 


Pardon  the  extreme  length  of  this  report.  Brevity  is  a  rare,  and,  in 
this  case,  a  very  difficult  attainment. 

Very  Respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

A.  SEVERANCE  FISK, 
Assistant  in  Charge  of  Freedmen. 

ANSWERS  OF  SUPERINTENDENTS  AND  PROVOST  MARSHALS. 

Planters  and  Freedmen  have  both  been  constantly  under  the 
observation  of  Superintendents  and  Provost  Marshals,  a  synopsis 
of  whose  opinions  is  here  given — that  of  Col.  Thomas  being 
made  the  basis.  When  differences  occur  between  it  and  others, 
they  are  stated. 

1.  What  is  your  opinion  of  the  quality,  the  variety  and 
amount  of  food  furnished  by  lessees,  <fcc.,  as  far  as  your  observa¬ 
tion  has  extended  ? 

The  amount  has  generally  been  sufficient,  but  the  quality  and  va¬ 
riety  have  not  been  what  they  should. 

Natchez:  [Col.  Mitchell,  Superintendent  and  Provost  Marshal:]  In¬ 
sufficient  in  quantity,  and  inferior  in  quality  on  about  half  the  plantations. 

Arkansas:  [Maj.  W.  G.  Sargent,  Superintendent:]  The  quality  has 
generally  been  good,  in  variety  coming  near  the  Government  rations  for 
soldiers,  and  sufficient  in  quantity. 

2.  How  far  have  justice  and  kindness  prevailed  in  the  treat¬ 
ment  of  the  negroes  by  their  employers  ? 

Col.  Thomas : — Just  as  far  as  they  would  assist  the  planters  and 
making  larger  crops,  and  keep  them  out  of  trouble  with  the  authorities. 
There  are  some  honorable  exceptions  to  this  mean  average. 

Lieut.  Col.  Mitchell : — Same  as  above. 

Major  Sargent : — So  far  as  this  question  applies  to  planters,  justice 
and  kindness  have  marked  their  conduct,  except  in  a  few  instances ;  but 
when  applied  to  citizen  residents  of  the  State  of  Arkansas,  the  rule  is  un¬ 
fortunately  somewhat  different ;  still  there  are  cases  where  these  are  kind 
and  considerate. 

3.  How  far  have  such  traits  been  manifested  by  furnishing 
Sanitary  stores  to  the  sick  and  feeble ;  by  a  liberal  construc¬ 
tion  of  contracts  or  the  reverse ;  by  continuing  rations  to  the 
sick;  and  by  extending  them  to  the  dependent  and  helpless? 

Col.  Thomas: — In  some  cases  sanitary  stores  have  been  furnished, 
and  good  care  taken  of  the  sick.  None  have  given  their  contracts  a  lib¬ 
eral  construction,  and  but  few  have  treated  their  hands  as  they  should 
have  done. 

Lieut.  Col.  Mitchell : — No  sanitary  stores  have  been  furnished,  ex¬ 
cept  in  a  very  few  cases. 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE. 


59 


Major  Sargent: — Generally  the  planters  have  construed  their  con¬ 
tracts  liberally ;  and  in  many  instances  given  extra  wages  and  clothing  as 
incentives  to  industry ;  and  manifested  kindness  towards  the  sick,  depen¬ 
dent  and  helpless. 

4.  What  do  you  think  of  the  quality  and  amount  of  cloth¬ 
ing  furnished  ? 

r  Col.  Thomas : — The  people  could  get  all  they  wanted,  if  they  paid 
for  it.  This  was  the  construction  the  planters  put  on  the  order. 

5.  What  disposition  to  speculate  on  the  necessities  of  the 
people  have  you  observed? 

Col.  Thomas : — But  little  disposition  of  this  sort  manifested.  As, 
practically,  the  planter  has  got  the  work  of  the  negro  for  his  board  and 
clothes,  but  little  wool  was  left  for  the  most  expert  shearer. 

Lieut.  Col.  Mitchell. — Such  a  disposition  has  been  manifested  in  a 
few  instances. 

Maj.  Sargent: — A  disposition  to  make  gains  has  been  clearly  mani¬ 
fested  ;  yet  the  natural  cupidity  of  employers  has  been  restrained  by  the 
presence  and  authority  of  military  power. 

6.  Suggest  any  plan  for  improving  the  condition  of  the 
people,  in  this  respect,  hereafter. 

Col.  Thomas : — Classify  according  to  capacity  and  willingness  to  la¬ 
bor  ;  fix  a  minimum  price  for  each  class ;  pay  full  wages,  and  supply  the 
Freedmen,  at  cost,  with  everything  they  need. 

Lieut.  Col.  Mitchell : — Print  a  short  system  of  rules  for  the  govern¬ 
ment  of  lessees  and  hands.  Allow  no  traffic  unless  approved  by  the  Pro¬ 
vost  Marshal  of  Freedmen. 

Maj.  Sargeant: — A  strict  classification  of  labor;  fix  the  rate  of 
wages ;  and  supply  them  with  necessary  goods  at  a  fair  per  cent,  above 
cost ;  reserving  the  profit  as  a  fund  to  relieve  the  necessitous. 

Have  the  people  been  led  to  invest  much  in  trifles  ? 

Col.  Thomas : — They  have  not. 

8.  IIow  severely  have  the  people  been  tasked  with  labor? 
Worked  how  many  hours  per  day?  How  many  days  per  week  ? 

Col.  Thomas : — No  complaints  can  be  made  against  the  planters  in 
this  tiling.  The  Freedmen  regulated  the  matter  to  suit  themselvs,  and 
quit  work  when  they  thought  they  had  done  as  much  as  they  ought. 

Lieut.  Col.  Mitchell : — The  people  have  worked,  on  an  average,  eight 
hours  per  day,  five  days  in  the  week. 

Maj.  Sargent: — The  Freedmen  have  not  complained  of  over- work. 
They,  usually,  on  plantations,  have  Saturday  afternoons  to  themselves. 

9.  Has  labor  been  exacted  on  rainy  or  stormy  days  ? 

Col.  Thomas  : — It  has  not. 

10.  Have  Planters  succeeded  in  developing  industry  ? 


60 


REPORT  OF  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN, 


Col.  Thomas : — No.  Freedmen  have  worked  well,  but  not  better 
than  slaves  used  to  work.  Independent  labor  on  plantations,  in  wood- 
yards  and  in  cities,  has  done  more  to  develop  industry  than  any  other 
kind. 

Lt.  Col.  Mitchell : — Same  as  above. 

Maj.  Sargent : — In  a  much  greater  degree  than  might  have  been  sup¬ 
posed,  when  we  consider  that  their  notions  of  liberty  were,  rest  from  la¬ 
bor,  and  comparative  idleness. 

11.  If  so,  by  what  methods,  and  to  what  extent? 

Col.  Thomas: — Freedmen  have  been  worked  about  as  they  always 
were ;  but  not  with  the  old  inhumanity  and  cruelty. 

Lt.  Col.  Mitchell  : — Same  as  above. 

Major  Sargeant : — By  the  authority  vested  in  us,  as  Superintendents, 
to  compel  the  able  bodied  to  labor ;  the  motive  of  compensation ;  the  hon¬ 
or  at  stake  of  fulfilling  their  contracts ;  and  the  incentive  of  a  bonus  and 
extra  compensation  offered  by  planters. 

12.  Compare  the  practical  results  of  Freedom  and  Sla¬ 
very. 

Col.  Thomas  : — See  ans.  to  Ques.  23. 

Lt.  Col.  Mitchell : — The  circumstances  surrounding  labor  have  not  af¬ 
forded  a  fair  result,  or  sufficient  data  for  comparison. 

Maj.  Sargent: — No  answer. 

13.  What  wages  have  been  paid,  and  how? 

Col.  Thomas : — Generally,  in  accordance  with  Orders  No.  9. 

Lt.  Col.  Mitchell: — Since  the  season  for  cotton  picking  opended, 
hands  have  been  paid  by  the  100  pounds,  receiving  from  40  to  75  cts. 

Maj.  Sargent : — Generally,  in  accordance  with  Orders  9. 

14  and  15.  Recommend  any  judicious  plan  of  compensa¬ 
tion,  and  compare  any  of  the  plans  already  adopted  and  propo¬ 
sed. 

Col.  Thomas : — As  set  forth  in  answer  to  Question  G,  preferable. 

Lt.  Col.  Mitchell  : — Can  recommend  no  improvements,  except  to  al¬ 
low  the  negroes  to  make  their  own  bargains  in  regard  to  wages. 

Maj.  Sargent: — No  answer. 

16.  What  Medical  attention  have  the  people  received? 

Col.  Thomas  : — Very  little  indeed — only  in  extreme  cases. 

Lt.  Col.  Mitchell : — A  supply  of  medicines  is  usually  kept  on  the  plan¬ 
tations,  and  in  some  cases  administered  by  the  overseer  ;  sometimes  by  a 
“doctor  woman,”  who  devotes  her  time  to  this.  Regular  physicians  have 
seldom  been  employed. 

Major  Sargent : — Medicines  have  been  furnished  by  Government, 
and  attendance  given  by  Hospital  stewards  in  some  localities  ;  though  in 
the  main,  a  sad  deficiency  has  occurred  in  supplying  the  wants  of  these 
people  in  this  particular. 

17.  What  success  or  ^neglect  of  schools  have  you  noticed  ? 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE. 


61 


Col.  Thomas  : — Schools  have  been  neglected  on  Plantations.  It  has 
been  almost  impossible  to  keep  them,  and  no  effort  has  been  made  to 
do  so. 

Lt.  Col.  Mitchell : — Schools  have  been  kept  on  two  plantations  in  this 
District. 

Maj.  Sargent Schools  have  been  successfully  inaugurated  in  towns 
and  near  wood-yards ;  but  entirely  neglected  on  plantations,  save  in  one 
or  two  instances. 

18.  What  improvement  in  their  domestic  relations  have 
you  seen,  and  what  credit  do  you  give  the  lessee  for  any  you 
have  observed? 

Col.  Thomas  : — They  have  improved  in  their  domestic  relations  as 
they  have  a  natural  ^desire  to  do.  Planters  have  not  done  what  they 
ought,  to  assist  in  this  respect ;  but  have  used  their  influnce  in  some  de¬ 
gree  on  the  side  of  truth  and  right. 

Lt.  Col.  Mitchell : — Same  as  above. 

Maj.  Sargent : — A  marked  improvement.  The  lessee,  perhaps,  is  en 
titled  to  very  little  of  the  credit ;  for  it  is  attributable  to  tthe  Freedman’s 
own  desire  for  such  improvement. 

19.  What  increasing  regard  for  truth  and  the  rights  of 
property  do  you  observe  ? 

Col.  Thomas : — An  improvement.  The  fact  that  each  one  now  pos¬ 
sesses  something  of  his  own,  makes  him  careful  to  guard  what  he  has ; 
and  disinclines  him  from  stealing  from  others,  and  gives  rise  to  mutual 
agreements  on  this  subject.  Again,  the  abolishment  of  the  degrading  and 
inhuman  punishments,  once  so  prevalent,  has  removed  one  great  cause  of 
untruth.  The  influence  of  teachers,  in  localities  where  those  laborers  can 
be  found,  has  tended  to  improve  their  morals  as  well  as  their  minds. 

Lt.-  Col.  Mitchell : — No  answer. 

Maj.  Sargent : — Much  improvement.  The  rights  of  property  are  re¬ 
garded,  and  few  cases  appear  before  our  Freedmen’s  Judicial  Tribunals, 
based  upon  violations  in  this  particular. 

20.  What  progress  do  you  see  in  their  disposition  to  labor 
steadily ;  to  remain  at  home ;  and  to  be  quiet  ? 

Col.  Thomas : — But  little  change  can  be  noticed  in  these  particulars. 
An  independent  course  of  thinking  does  not  tend  to  make  people  steadily 
industrious,  continuers  at  home  or  quiet  citizens,  when  they  see  that  the 
rules  and  regulations  for  their  guidance,  which  they  had  no  part  in  ma¬ 
king,  are  not  as  beneficent  as  they  should  be. 

Lt.  Col.  Mitchell : — There  seems  to  be  some  improvement,  though 
it  is  not  general. 

Maj.  Sargent : — They  have,  in  all  branches  of  the  Government ;  with 
citizens  ;  with  officers ;  and  with  lessees,  labored  steadily  and  quietly. 

21.  Are  Military  orgarizations  and  instrumentalities  neces¬ 
sary,  in  the  present  disturbed  state  of  the  country,  to  secure  the 
bests  interests  both  of  the  negro  and  his  employer  ? 


62 


REPORT  OF  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN, 


Col.  Thomas : — Absolutely  and  vitally  necessary. 

Lt.  Col.  Mitchell : — Same  as  above. 

Maj.  Sargent: — Absolutely  necessary.  More  complaints  have  been 
made  by  lessees  for  lack  of  Military  organizations  to  protect  them,  than 
from  all  other  sources  together.  Indeed,  most  of  the  lessees  seemed  to  ex¬ 
pect  that  the  whole  Military  strength  of  the  Government  would  be  useful 
for  their  own  benefit. 

22.  Should  men,  who  have  cruelly  mistreated  their  labor¬ 
ers,  be  permitted  to  lease  lands  of  the  Government  ? 

Col.  Thomas : — Certainly  not. 

Lt.  Col.  Mitchell : — Same  as  above. 

Maj.  Sargent : — They  should  not. 

23.  State  any  facts  which  shew  the  progress  of  the  Freed- 

men ;  that  display  the  best  means  of  their  improvement  aud  ele¬ 
vation,  and  the  utility  of  this  Department  in  achieving  this  ob¬ 
ject.  , 

[Col.  Thomas, 'and  Major  Sargent,  give  no  specific  answer  to  this 
Question,  but  refer  to  the  general  tenor  of  their  reports  which  have  been 
so  fully  quoted  here.] 

Lt.  Col.  Mitchell : — Affairs  have  been  very  much  disorganized  in  this 
district ;  out  of  the  twenty-five  plantations  leased  in  one  parish,  all  but 
two  have  been  raided,  some  of  them  repeatedly ;  working  stock,  clothing, 
bedding,  everything  portable  carried  away,  and  the  rest  destroyed.  Many 
lessees  have  been  made  prisoners  by  the  guerrillas,  and  two  have  been 
killed.  Many  negroes,  too,  have  been  driven  off.  Forty-four  were  taken 
at  one  time,  from  a  single  plantation,  and  have  not  been  heard  from  since. 
Owing  to  these  facts,  but  little  chance  has  existed  to  test  these  questions. 
Among  the  evils  that  deserve  notice  and  demand  a  remedy,  are — the  neg¬ 
lect  of  the  lessees  to  furnish  proper  and  sufficient  food  to  the  hands,  and 
care  and  medicines  for  the  sick.  There  seems  to  be  a  general  and  well- 
founded  complaint  in  these  respects.  The  looseness  with  which  accounts 
are  kept  between  employers  and  laborers,  gives  the  latter  no  power  to  de¬ 
tect  fraud  or  imposition.  This  too  requires  attention. 

PROVOST  MARSHAL  SYSTEM. 

The  following,  from  Col.  Thomas’  Report,  will  show  the 
working  of  the  Provost  Marshal  system  : 

By  the  provisions  of  Orders  No.  9,  Assistant  Provost  Marshals  were 
to  be  appointed  to  enforce  its  execution.  They  were  promptly  appoint¬ 
ed,  and  entered  upon  their  duties  without  precedents  to  guide  them.  It  is 
not,  therefore,  astonishing  that,  in  discharging  their  duties,  they  often 
made  mistakes  ;  and  some  may  have  been  influenced  in  their  decisions  by 
favors  from  Planters.  Their  instructions  were  to  have  all  the  parties  to  a 
case  notified,  so  that  all  the  evidence  might  be  brought  forward,  and  just 
conclusions  formed.  Many  cases  have  been  referred  to  me  for  investiga- 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE. 


63 


tion,  when  the  Assistant  Provost  Marshal  felt  that  he  was  not  competent 
to  decide  them. 

“  Planters  were  prone  to  bring  frivolous  cases  before  the  Provost 
Marshals ;  as  for  instance,  that  a  negro  was  late  in  getting  to  work ;  and 
thus  sought  to  throw  little  details  of  government  upon  their  hands.  It 
was  difficult  to  see  what  to  do  with  such  cases,  except  to  dismiss  them  in 
order  to  attend  to  more  serious  affairs ;  and  then  the  planters  accused  the 
officers  of  inefficiency. 

“  The  complaints  demanding  most  attention  were  those  of  abuse  made 
by  Freedmen.  Planters  had  often  to  be  reminded,  that  they  wrere  not  work¬ 
ing  slaves,  and  that  abuses  of  this  kind  could  not  be  tolerated.  Questions 
of  pay,  time  worked,  and  other  points  came  up,  arising  out  of  different 
constructions  of  Orders  9.  The  Provost  Marshals  are  kept  busy,  riding 
from  place  to  place,  examining  books  and  bills,  and  gathering  information 
for  an  honest  settlement  of  Freedmen’s  affairs. 

“  Several  Provost  Marshals  have  been  removed  for  failure  in  duty, 
or  from  suspicions  of  taking  bribes.  Every  effort  has  been  made  to  ren¬ 
der  them  efficient ;  and  those  who  complain  of  any  inefficiency,  whether 
they  are  employer  or  employee,  should  remember  the  large  extent  of 
country  under  one  man’s  control,  and  the  hundreds  of  people  that  requir¬ 
ed  his  attention.  The  records  of  their  offices  attest  their  industry.” 

ARKANSAS - INSPECTION. 

The  information  from  Arkansas  has  so  far  been  presented  in 
merely  fragmentary  quotations  from  Major  Sargent’s  Reports, 
and  those  of  his  assistants.  A  more  detailed  statement  is  found 
in  the  following  report  of  Lt.  Col.  Eaton,  69th  U.  S.  C.  I.,  who 
was  ordered  to  make  a  rigid  inspection  of  the  posts  in  that  State. 
He  has  gone  over  the  whole  field  with  great  care,  at  all  of  the  in¬ 
terior  points.  The  inspection  at  Helena  was  less  thorough,  on 
account  of  the  lateness  of  his  arrival. 

He  has  penetrated  not  only  the  facts,  but  the  philosophy 
they  suggest.  His  report  is  given  entire.  Special  attention  will 
be  attracted  by  his  remarks  upon  the  self-support  of  the  blacks, 
their  disposition  to  labor,  &c.,  compared  with  poor  whites.  On 
this  point  it  may  be  remarked,  that  more  whites  than  blacks  are 
now  fed  by  the  Government  at  Memphis.  It  will  also  be  noticed 
that  there  seems  to  be  a  great  difference  of  character  in  favor  of 
lessees  in  Arkansas,  compared  with  those  near  Vicksburg  and 
Natchez;  as  well  as  greater  security  of  plantations,  less  loss  of 
lives  among  laborers,  and  of  mules  and  supplies  among  the  plan¬ 
ters;  resulting  from  the  fact  that  the  fanciful,  or  otherwise  unpracti¬ 
cal  schemes,  which  obtained  sostrongan  influence  at  other  points, 
took  less  hold  there.  Plantations  were  leased  more  nearly  within 


64 


REPORT  OF  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN, 


the  limits  suggested  by  military  advice,  and  the  freedmen  were 
treated  more  strictly  as  required  by  my  officers.  Of  the  11,363 
freedmen  reported  in  the  working  season,  only  985  were  drawing 
rations.  Even  these  were  doing  work  more  than  sufficient  for  their 
own  support ;  and  had  not  the  ravages  of  the  worm  taken  place, 
a  very  large  protit  would  have  been  derived  from  their  labor. 

Little  Rock,  Arkansas, 
December  17, 1864. 

Lieut.  John  F.  Perry, 

Adjutant  Freedmen’s  Department. 

Lieutenant, — In  compliance  with  the  order  of  Col.  John  Eaton,  Jr., 
General  Superintendent  of  Freedmen,  appointing  me  Inspector  of  Freed¬ 
men  for  the  State  of  Arkansas,  I  have  the  honor  to  submit  the  following- 
report  : — 


ACCOUNTS. 

In  looking  over  the  books  of  the  Superintendents  of  Freedmen  in 
this  State,  I  find  the  accounts  kept  with  apparent  honesty  and  accuracy ; 
but  not,  excepting  those  of  the  State  Superintendent,  with  that  neat  order 
and  completeness,  and  with  all  items  substantiated  by  such  vouchers  as 
the  Army  Regulations  and  the  instructions  of  the  General  Superinten¬ 
dent  require.  When  each  superior,  as  is  proposed,  demands  of  his  sub¬ 
ordinates,  in  monthly  settlements,  a  duplicate  of  the  voucher  for  each  re¬ 
ceipt  or  disbursement,  the  safety  of  these  officers,  as  well  as  the  good  of 
the  service,  will  be  enhanced. 

quartermaster’s  returns. 

Beside  money  belonging  to  the  Freedmen’s  Department,  a  large 
amount  of  Quartermaster’s  stores  passes  through  the  hands  of  these  offi¬ 
cers  ;  but  some  forget  that  they  are  held  responsible,  like  other  officers,  to 
the  Quartermaster  General,  and  fail  to  make  the  proper  returns. 

OFFICIAL  RECORDS. 

Nor  are  the  records  of  orders  given  and  received,  of  contracts  and 
passes,  of  complaints  with  the  witnesses  and  findings,  and  of  official  let¬ 
ters  and  papers  with  their  endorsements  and  answers,  as  complete  as  is 
desirable.  Blank  books,  suitably  ruled,  are  needed  for  this  purpose. 

PASSES. 

There  is  great  want  of  uniformity  in  passes.  The  blanks  vary  in 
form.  At  Helena  they  are  given  only  to  those  wishing  to  go  in  and  out 
of  the  lines.  At  the  other  posts  all  are  required  to  obtain  them  ;  but  there 
are  no  regular  patrols  to  enforce  the  orders.  They  are  eagerly  sought  for 
by  the  men,  as  they  secure  them  from  conscription  and  disturbance. 
Many  of  the  women  have  obtained  them ;  but  not  being  interfered  with 
except  on  special  complaints,  as  many  more  have  neglected  to  do  so.  The 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE. 


6& 


necessity  of  correct  information  in  regard  to  the  avocations  of  all,  that 
the  Superintendents  may  be  enabled  to  check  vagrancy  and  corruption, 
and  the  unduly  crowding  of  any  particular  business,  is  too  apparent,  to 
one  conversant  with  the  life  of  these  people  in  cities,  to  need  comment. 

By  reason  of  these  deficiences  any  estimate  of  the  number  of  Freed- 
men,  who  enjoy  the  protection  of  this  Supervision,  by  the  number  of  pas¬ 
ses,  is  far  below  the  actual  census. 

Excepting  at  Helena  the  pass  for  the  employee  has  been  obtained  by 
the  employer,  and  has  answered  for  the  contract  of  hire.  And,  rightly, 
the  acceptance  of  labor  should  ensure  reasonable  wages ;  and  while  the 
conditions  on  which  the  labor  of  Freedmen  may  be  obtained  are  accsssible . 
to  all,  the  pass  would  appear  to  be  sufficient  without  greater  formality. 
The  only  security  of  pay  and  suitable  treatment,  by  either  formal  contract 
or  pass,  is  the  efficiency  of  this  Supervision.  The  simplest  form  would, 
therefore,  seem  preferable. 

Large  numbers,  beyond  the  lines,  have  been  regularly  hired.  Some 
planters  have  come  in  forty  miles  to  obtain  passes,  and  thereby  secure 
their  hands  and  their  crops.  The  adoption  of  compensated  labor  any¬ 
where  is  gratifying ;  but  the  danger  of  the  products  of  such  labor  falling 
to  the  enemy,  and  the  urgent  demand  for  more  labor  at  every  post  in  the 
State,  make  it  desirable  that  as  many  as  possible  should  be  brought  in. 
Although  the  value  to  the  enemy  of  cribs  full  of  corn  and  stacks  of  forage 
is  duly  appreciated  by  our  officers,  the  importance  of  the  laborer  who 
makes  all  these  is  comparatively  unnoticed.  It  must  strike  every  one, 
that  the  most  serviceable  foraging  is  that  which  not  only  deprives  the  en¬ 
emy  of  the  present  crop,  but  disables  him  for  making  any  surplus  in 
future. 

I  would  respectfully  suggest,  that  all  blanks  for  passes  be  issued 
from  the  general  office ;  that  a  reference  to  the  number  of  each  previous 
pass  be  made,  so  that  the  whereabouts  of  each  person  at  any  time  may  be 
ascertained ;  and  that  those  to  go  beyond  the  lines  be  more  carefully 
registered. 


CONDUCT  OF  EMPLOYEES. 

It  has  been  difficult  for  late  masters  and  mistresses  to  recognize  the 
equality  of  themselves  and  their  former  slaves  before  martial  law.  Many 
outrages  were  perpetrated  upon  their  persons  and  property  after  the  occu¬ 
pancy  of  these  posts  by  our  troops.  Little  attention  was  paid  to  the 
negro.  But  through  the  necessity  and  profit  of  his  labor  to  citizens,  the 
large  demand  by  the  army,  and  the  consequent  scarcity,  and  above  all  the 
speedy  redress  obtained  through  this  Supervision,  the  rights  of  the  blacks 
have  become  well-nigh  as  secure  as  those  of  the  whites.  At  some  posts, 
where  this  Supervision  is  not  interfered  with,  they  obtain  justice  with 
far  less  delay. 

A  few  planters  of  the  old  regime  have  in  good  faith  embraced  the 
new  order  of  things.  But  the  great  majority  of  them  acquiesce  only 
through  compulsion  ;  and,  as  they  hope  their  subjugation  will  be  but  tem¬ 
porary,  they  are  at  pains  to  retain  their  former  slaves  as  near  them  and  as 

9 


66 


REPORT  OF  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN, 


much  within  their  knowledge  as  possible.  These  have  naturally  exchang¬ 
ed  curses  and  punishments  for  entreaties  and  cajolery,  and  tirades  against 
the  restraints  of  lawful  freedom. 

The  planters  from  the  north,  with  few  exceptions,  have  treated  their 
laborers  with  marked  fairness,  and  often  with  generosity.  Many  of  them 
were  disabled  officers  and  soldiers  from  our  army. 

Refractory  and  indolent  laborers  have  been  turned  over  to  the  Super¬ 
intendents  ;  and  there  has  been  scarcely  an  attempt  at  any  kind  of  pun¬ 
ishment,  much  less  the  cruel  and  unusual.  The  moral  influence  of  mili¬ 
tary  power  backing  all  reasonable  demands  of  the  planters,  as  shown  by 
these  occasional  examples  of  offenders,  has  been  most  happy  and  effectual. 

It  is  the  testimony  of  nearly  all  planters,  whether  southern  or  nor¬ 
thern,  that  they  could  not  have  expected  any  set  of  laborers  to  work  bet¬ 
ter  than  theirs.  They  have,  in  some  cases,  returned  to  their  work  after 
being  repeatedly  driven  away  by  guerrillas,  and  when  no  white  dared  to 
go  near.  There  are  a  few  instances,  where  they  have  been  furnished  arms, 
of  their  repulsing  these  marauders.  It  is  to  be  remarked  too,  very  credita¬ 
bly  to  the  negro,  that  those  who  have  cared  most  for  the  interest  of  their  la¬ 
borers,  have  been  rewarded  by  the  greatest  cheerfulness  and  the  heartiest 
good  will.  The  sullenness  of  the  old  regime  has  disappeared.  A  won¬ 
derfully  keen  scent  for  [the  direction  of  their  interests  already  charac¬ 
terizes  this  once  stolid  race.  They  have  discovered  an  alacrity,  a  faith¬ 
fulness  and  an  honor — not  by  any  means  to  a  degree  that  is  to  be  hoped 
for — yet  sufficient  to  compel  the  acknowledgement  of  those  who  declared 
that  freedom  would  make  this  people  nothing  but  thieving  and  licentious 
vagabonds. 


WAGES. 

The  wages  announced  in  the  Treasury  Regulations,  and  approved  by 
Gen.  Thomas,  have  been  the  lowest  paid.  The  change  allowed  by  subse¬ 
quent  orders  was  adopted  by  but  few  outside  of  Helena.  The  regulation 
of  wages  by  age  or  strength  alone  has  been  found  unjust,  and  would  be 
little  regarded  by  a  planter  in  hiring  his  laborers  again. 

During  the  cotton-picking  season,  nearly  all  were  paid  by  the  pound, 
and  earned  from  one  to  seven  dollars  per  day.  Many  have  been  allowed 
a  third  or  half  of  the  crop,  and  have  realized,  though  the  season  was  poor, 
handsome  profits.  Among  them  are  not  a  few  of  remarkable  judgment 
and  force  of  character,  who  have  been  engaged  at  their  own  prices  as 
foremen.  The  earnings  of  those  in  the  cities  have  largely  exceeded  those 
on  the  plantations.  The  planters  say  that  they  are  indifferent  to  the  rates 
of  pay,  if  they  can  obtain  the  laborers.  Considering  the  enormous  in¬ 
come  from  an  ordinary  crop,  and  the  scarcity  of  labor,  the  wages  which 
have  been,  for  the  most  part,  the  minimum  in  orders,  is  far  too  small.  If 
employers  were  allowed  to  put  in  bids  with  their  request  for  hands,  to  the 
Post  Superintendents,  and  the  people  enabled  to  take  advantage  of  the 
highest  offers,  greater  fairness  and  a  considerable  advance  would  be  ob¬ 
tained.  Those  who  bear  the  heat  and  burden  of  the  fields  deserve  the 
larger  share  of  the  gains. 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE. 


67 


SHORT  SETTLEMENTS. 

The  rights  of  the  blacks,  in  person  and  property,  have  been  so  long- 
outraged  by  the  whites,  that  they  are  exceedingly  distrustful.  Only  by 
frequent  and  regular  settlements  will  their  pay  have  its  full  stimulus  to 
exertion.  Those  planters  who,  through  the  cotton-picking  season,  met 
the  dues  of  their  laborers  promptly  every  week,  accomplished  a  third 
more  than  those  who  paid  irregularly. 

The  Government  would  not  be  burdened  with  the  sick  and  help¬ 
less  more  than  at  present  if  planters  were  required  to  take  their  hands  by 
the  year,  and  settle  by  the  month ;  while  the  negro  would  do  more  work 
with  greater  confidence,  and  deserve  better  pay.  If  any  stoppage  was  to 
be  made  for  loss  of  time  through  sickness,  it  could  be  more  satisfactorily 
adjusted.  And  a  proper  account  in  this  way  could  be  as  readily  inspected 
and  audited  by  the  Superintendents,  at  the  close  of  the  year,  as  any  other. 
The  oftener  they  can  safely  exercise  their  judgment  in  saving  or  spending 
their  pay,  the  sooner  they  will  be  fitted  for  independent  transactions. 

FOOD  AND  CLOTHING. 

To  this  end  they  should  receive  their  wages  in  full ;  and  the  ma¬ 
terials  for  food  and  clothing  should  be  furnished  at  reasonable  prices,  and 
conveniently,  so  that  they  may  purchase  for  themselves.  Rations,  ex¬ 
cepting  in  a  few  instances,  where  they  have  been  regularly  dealt  out,  have 
been  kept  in  this  way  at  the  plantations.  Clothing  has  also  been  furnish¬ 
ed  at  some ;  but  elsewhere  than  at  Helena  they  have,  for  the  most  part, 
depended  for  this  upon  the  stores  kept  in  town  by  Goverment  agents.  An 
immense  saving  in  food  is  effected ;  and  there  are  provided  responsible 
persons,  without  inducement  to  cajole  them  to  squander  their  money,  with 
whom  they  can  take  their  first  lessons  in  trading  with  safety.  All  unite  in 
saying,  that  without  protection  from  frauds  in  change  and  exorbitant 
prices,  they  would  scarce  be  able  to  clothe  themselves.  Especially  is  this 
true  of  the  more  distant  posts ;  as  Pine  Bluff.  At  this  place,  while  do¬ 
mestics  were  selling  in  town  at  $1  25  per  yard,  the  same  quality  and 
width  could  be  obtained  at  the  Freedmen’s  Store  at  sixty  cents.  At  Little 
Rock  so  large  was  the  trade  of  the  blacks,  that  these  stores  benefited  the 
whites  as  well,  by  lowering,  throughout  the  city,  the  demands  of  the  tra¬ 
ders.  Durable  material,  for  necessary  articles,  is  offered  at  these  stores 
rather  than  fashionable  and  gaudy  trash. 

IMPROVEMENT  IN  TASTE. 

The  good  taste  and  practical  sense  of  the  negroes,  as  discovered  in 
their  purchases,  though  not  by  any  means  unexceptionable,  would  surprise 
a  stranger.  They  scout  the  wild  and  gorgeous  colors  they  once  preferred 
You  would  scarce  anywhere  find  a  house  full  of  day  laborers  so  well  and 
neatly  clad  as  of  a  Sunday  at  the  Colored  Churches  at  Little  Rock.  The 
gay  extravagance  of  the  blacks  is  often  animadverted  upon  ;  but  it  only 
appears  in  a  respectful  notice  of  the  Sabbath.  On  Monday  those  who 
were  dressed  as  though  their  income  were  thousands,  appear  in  homely 


68 


REPORT  OF  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN, 


suits,  becoming  their  avocations.  Their  fine  clothes  are  therefore  not 
expensive. 

No  complaints  of  the  quantity  or  quality  of  food  have  been  heard 
of,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  cases  at  Helena,  which  have  been  reported 
by  Major  Sargent,  the  State  Superintendent. 

HOUSES. 

At  the  plantations  they  have  occupied  the  old  quarters.  In  the 
town  they  have  built  log  houses  by  hundreds,  which  form  little  villages. 
In  Little  Rock  there  are  several  of  these.  One  is  known  as  “Lickskillet 
and  another  as  “Brownsville.”  The  houses  are  not  arranged  in  streets, 
and  seem  to  have  grown  up  in  their  places  as  indifferently  as  mushrooms. 
Their  roofing  is  of  shakes.  Most  have  floors,  but  boards  cannot  be  ob¬ 
tained  without  great  difficulty.  Few  have  any  windows.  They  are  com¬ 
fortable  ;  and  although  not  as  good  as  they  will  soon  be  able  to  build,  they 
are  fair  specimens  of  the  dwellings  of  a  large  share  of  the  white  people  in 
Arkansas.  At  Helena  boards  are  plentier,  and  the  houses  of  those  in  the 
town  are  better  than  elsewhere. 

As  will  be  inferred,  the  attention  of  Superintendents  is  needed  to 
prevent  irregularity.  Indeed  no  houses  should  be  located  without  his  con¬ 
sent.  Many  are  furnished  with  abundance  and  kept  with  neatness.  But 
an  occasional  inspection  is  needed  by  many  more,  to  quicken  their  pride 
and  elevate  their  taste. 


SCHOOLS. 

The  planters  hired  laborers  with  as  few  children  as  possible.  The 
number  on  each  plantation  did  not,  therefore,  seem  to  warrant  separate 
schools ;  and  the  combination  of  those  so  far  apart  seemed  equally  im¬ 
practicable.  No  schools  of  this  sort  are  reported.  But  in  the  towns,  and 
at  the  Home  Farms,  these  privileges  have  been  enjoyed  and  appreciated. 
They  crowd  the  school  rooms.  Soldiers  and  laborers  carry  about  them 
their  speller  or  reader,  and  are  frequently  overheard  reciting  to  each  other. 

LACK  OF  SCHOOL  HOUSES. 

There  is  great  difficulty  in  obtaining  houses  for  this  purpose,  more 
especially  at  the  Home  Farms.  In  the  towns  churches  are  opened,  but 
not  enough  to  accommodate  all.  It  is  worthy  of  note,  that  in  the  Capital 
of  Arkansas,  there  was  not  a  single  school-house.  Although  more  teach¬ 
ers  are  still  needed,  charities  in  the  form  of  school-houses  are  more  urgently 
demanded.  By  the  enforcement  of  late  orders  the  Freedmen  Department 
will  soon  be  enabled  to  pay  teachers  without  assistance.  The  earnings  of 
these  people  in  towns  are  so  large,  that  they  can  readily  pay  tuition.  The 
feeling  of  self-dependence  awakened,  gratifies  and  elevates  them. 

SUPERINTENDENTS  AND  TEACHERS. 

The  Superintendents  of  Schools  provided  in  orders  have  not  reached 
the  interior  posts.  Their  duties  have  been  performed  by  the  Superinten- 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE. 


69 


dents  of  Freedmen.  It  is  hoped  that  they  will  soon  arrive.  Mr.  Allen  at 
Helena  is  an  efficient  Superintendent,  and  is  doing  a  good  work. 

The  lady  teachers  have  been  most  devoted  to  their  work,  and  by  rea¬ 
son  of  the  ease  with  which  discipline  is  maintained  in  these  schools,  and 
the  childlike  character,  as  well  as  attainment,  of  those  people,  they  have 
been  by  far  the  more  successful.  Some  gentlemen,  like  the  Rev.  Mr.  Todd 
at  Pine  Bluff,  more  interested  in  the  good  of  these  people  than  jealous  for 
the  aggrandizement  of  their  sect  or  association,  have  been  exceedingly 
useful.  The  presence  of  such  teachers  as  Mr.  Todd,  Mrs.  Thomas  and 
Miss  Warren,  at  the  Home  Farm  of  Pine  Bluff,  and  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bar- 
stow  at  that  of  Little  Rock,  has  had  an  elevating  and  restraining  influence 
of  as  great  moral  value  as  teaching  itself. 

The  colored  people  have  already  a  representative  among  the  teach¬ 
ers  in  the  person  of  Rev.  Andrew  Wallace,  of  Little  Rock. 

INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOL. 

The  only  Industrial  School  in  the  State  is  at  Helena.  Here  girls  and 
women  are  taught  in  the  cutting  and  sewing  of  garments  for  both  sexes, 
and  at  the  same  time  are  paid  for  what  they  are  able  to  do.  The  most  art¬ 
ful  housewife  would  here  be  surprised  with  new  schemes  in  domestic 
economy.  Old  pants  are  transformed  into  new  aprons.  An  old  army 
overcoat  furnishes  a  lady’s  cape,  a  boy’s  jacket  and  a  skirt  for  a  girl.  This 
work  will  be  appreciated  by  those  who  know  that  very  few  of  these  wo¬ 
men  are  capable  of  anything  but  the  rudest  stitching  and  the  least  possible 
tact.  Such  a  School  is  needed  at  every  post. 

MARRIAGES. 

The  forms  of  marriage  certificates  and  registers  have  at  length  been 
received.  The  necessity  for  the  former  had  lead  to  the  printing  of  one, 
different  from  that  of  the  General  Superintendent,  for  temporary  use.  For 
want  of  these,  the  order  in  reference  to  the  marriage  of  those  living  to¬ 
gether,  is  as  yet  but  partially  enforced,  and  the  record  imperfect.  Respect 
for  the  family  relation  has  been  quickened,  and  is  keeping  pace  with  the 
rapid  growth  of  respect  for  themselves.  Husbands  and  wives,  parents 
and  children,  separated  by  long  distances,  are  coming  together.  The  diffi¬ 
culties  and  expense  of  travel  do  not  prevent  soldiers’  wives  at  Helena  from 
visiting  their  husbands  at  Fort  Smith.  Frequent  correspondence,  which 
is  encouraged  and  assisted  in  every  way  by  the  Superintendents  of  Freed¬ 
men,  is  kept  up  between  them. 

HOME  FARMS. 

At  the  Home  Farms  are  gathered  those  out  of  employment,  new 
comers  and  vagrants,  and  those  rendered  helpless  through  age  or  misfor¬ 
tune.  These  are  rationed  by  the  Government,  and  are  supposed  by  many 
to  be  a  burden  and  an  expense.  But  notwithstanding  all  these  Homes 
were  put  in  operation  this  year,  with  all  implements,  draught  animals  and 
seeds  to  be  obtained ;  and  notwithstanding  a  nearly  total  failure  of  the  cot- 


70 


REPORT  OF  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN, 


ton  crop,  which  was  the  chief  reliance,  those  in  this  State  have  earned 
sufficient  to  pay  the  Government  its  outlays,  and  fair  wages  to  the  hands. 

WHITE  AND  BLACK  REFUGEES  COMPARED. 

Here,  if  any  where,  lies  all  the  expense  of  Government  for  the  im¬ 
mense  number  of  negro  laborers  within  our  lines ;  but  the  benefits  of  this 
provision  are  to  be  measured,  not  by  the  success  of  these  farms  alone,  but 
by  the  products  of  all  this  labor,  which  accrues  directly  or  indirectly  to 
our  advantage,  heightened  by  the  amount  lost  to  the  enemy.  It  may  not 
be  improper  to  suggest  to  those  who  declaim  against  the  Government  be¬ 
ing  burdened  with  negro  paupers,  that  while  in  this  State,  the  number  of 
colored  people  within  our  lines  is  fully  equal  to  that  of  the  whites,  twice 
as  many  of  the  latter  draw  rations  without  making  any  return  whatever^ 
Many  of  these  whites  are  glad  to  live  and  work  in  partnership  with  the 
more  thrifty  negroes. 


WOODTARDS. 

The  woodyards  have  been  a  source  of  considerable  income.  In  the 
hands  of  private  individuals,  the  profits  of  the  work  of  the  able-bodied  go 
into  the  hands  of  speculators,  who  furnish  no  schools  to  the  children,  nor 
assistance  to  the  helpless.  Besides  provision  being  made  for  these,  in  the 
hands  of  the  Government,  exorbitant  rates  are  prevented  and  a  greater 
abundance  supplied. 


PINE  BLUFF. 


Of  all  the  Home  Farms  in  the  State,  that  at  Pine  Bluff  is  by  far  the 
best.  The  people  are  better  housed,  better  clad  and  healthier,  than  at  any 
other.  This  is  partly  due  to  an  early  commencement,  and  to  the  number 
of  the  old  quarters  on  the  place ;  but  chiefly  to  the  energy  of  Capt.  Mal¬ 
lory,  the  Post  Superintendent,  and  his  sagacity  in  making  choice  of  Mr. 
J.  J.  Williams  as  Camp  Master,  and  private  De  Tar,  1st  Ind.  Cav.,  as  Ac¬ 
ting  Surgeon,  who  have  proved  the  right  men  for  their  positions.  The 
following  report  of  the  sanitary  condition  of  this  Home  Farm,  for  six 
months  ending  Oct.  31st,  1864,  will  be  of  interest  : 


Month. 

Mean  Strength  of  all  1 
Ages  and  Sexes. 

Number  of  Oases  1 
Treated. 

Number  of 
Deaths. 

May, 

870 

620 

1  63 

June, 

850 

480 

55 

July, 

760 

402 

32 

August, 

700 

320 

15 

Sept., 

680 

206 

6 

Oct., 

720 

102 

2 

Nov., 

786 

9 

6 

No  sick  last  day  of  November. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind,  that  a  large  number  of  these  were  not 
brought  to  the  camp  until  dangerously  sick. 

Here,  as  elsewhere,  a  regular  account  has  been  kept  between  the 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE. 


71 


workmen  and  the  Freedmen’s  Department,  and  a  share  of  their  pay  has 
been  advanced  to  them  in  clothing. 

RECRUITS  FROM  HOME  FARM. 

Capt.  Mallory  has  obtained  from  his  camp  nearly  a  thousand  recruits 
for  the  U.  S.  service.  Gen.  Clayton,  the  Post  Commander,  fully  recog¬ 
nizes  the  advantages  of  this  supervision,  and  he  has  rendered  all  proper 
assistance  to  the  enforcement  of  its  orders. 

CAUSES  OF  LARGE  NUMBER. 

The  large  number  at  this  Farm  will  attract  attention.  Many  are 
continually  arriving  from  the  rebel  lines.  Large  numbers  were  hired  un¬ 
til  the  crop  was  gathered,  and  have  been  returned  to  the  Superintendent. 
It  has  also  been  swelled  by  an  order  from  the  Post  Commander,  directing 
all  in  town,  without  certificate  of  employment  from  some  white  person,  to 
be  sent  to  the  Farm.  This,  however,  has,  at  the  request  of  Superintendent 
Mallory,  been  but  partially  enforced.  It  must  not  be  supposed  that  these 
were  not  all  employed  during  the  cotton  season.  At  Pine  Bluff,  as  else¬ 
where,  the  demand  for  labor  was  greater  than  the  supply.  Capt.  Mallory 
had  on  the  Farm  itself  800  acres  in  cultivation  ;  and  but  for  the  army- worm 
would  have  realized  for  the  Government  as  many  bales  of  cotton. 

SUGGESTS  A  CHANGE  OF  BASE. 

But  good  policy  suggests,  that  as  few  as  possible  of  these  people  be 
allowed  to  gather  at  such  distant  posts,  where  the  value  of  the  ration  is 
trebled  by  transportation ;  and  a  sudden  evacuation  would  be  accompanied 
with  so  much  inconvenience  and  distress.  Near  the  Mississippi  their  sup¬ 
ply  would  be  easier,  a  change  made  with  less  trouble,  and  their  labor  be  of 
greater  value. 


LITTLE  ROCK. 

The  most  of  the  people  at  the  Home  Farm  were  shipped  from  Fort 
Smith  in  the  utmost  destitution,  and  thrown  upon  the  Superintendent 
without  notice.  The  houses  were  necessarily  built  with  haste,  and  are  of 
inferior  quality,  as  well  as  poorly  furnished.  Large  numbers  have  been 
sick,  and  an  undue  proportion  have  died.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  some 
suitable  person  will  be  found  without  delay,  to  act  as  surgeon  at  this  im¬ 
portant  post.  New  and  better  houses  are  being  built  upon  higher  ground, 
and  there  is  reason  to  hope  that  health  and  comfort  will  be  materially  im¬ 
proved. 


DUVALL’S  BLUFF. 

A  camp  for  Freedmen  has  just  been  arranged  at  Du  Vail’s  Bluff,  by 
Lieut.  Davis,  the  Post  Superintendent.  His  services  have  been  a  great  re¬ 
lief  to  the  General  Commanding  the  Post  and  his  subordinates.  Out  of 
about  600  negroes,  only  61  draw  rations.  These  are  principally  soldiers’ 
wives  and  families.  They  have  good  houses,  and  but  few  are  sick.  Num- 


72 


REPORT  OF  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN, 


bers  are  just  now  coming  in  from  the  surrounding  country,  who  are  desti¬ 
tute  and  in  need  of  charity.  Teachers  have  been  engaged,  and  schools 
will  soon  be  opened. 

MOUTH  OF  WHITE  RIVER. 

There  are  about  two  hundred  negroes  at  the  mouth  of  White  River, 
who  have  been  employed  in  a  woodyard,  and  on  a  plantation,  for  a  pri¬ 
vate  individual.  The  profits  of  the  labor  of  the  strong  have  been  taken 
without  care  for  the  sick  and  helpless.  There  are  no  schools  here.  They 
have,  for  the  most  part,  good  houses ;  but  live  in  miserable  squalor,  and 
are  full  of  complaints  of  their  employer.  It  is  earnestly  recommended, 
that  the  benefits  of  this  supervision  be  extended  to  them,  and  that  a  wood- 
yard  be  established,  which  shall  be  managed  more  advantageously  for 
them,  as  well  as  the  Government. 

HELENA. 

At  the  Home  Farm  at  Helena,  the  people  are  in  fair  houses,  and  liv¬ 
ing  comfortably.  Dr.  Palmer,  who  is  acting  as  surgeon,  is  an  attentive 
and  efficient  officer. 

The  hospital,  which  he  had  arranged  in  town,  so  much  to  their  ben¬ 
efit,  on  the  supposed  change  of  the  Freedmen  into  the  hands  of  the  Trea¬ 
sury,  was  turned  over  to  the  Post  Surgeon.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  it  will 
soon  be  returned  to  the  use  of  this  Department. 

HOSPITALS  AND  ORPHAN  ASYLUMS. 

Hospitals  and  Orphan  Asylums  are  needed  at  every  Post,  either  at 
the  “  Home  Farm”  or  in  town.  Something  answering  for  the  former  is 
found  now  at  every  Home.  The  best  that  could  be  done,  under  the  pre¬ 
sent  difficulties,  in  obtaining  lumber  and  cots,  has  been  done ;  but  the  hos¬ 
pitals  are  neither  sufficiently  large  nor  comfortably  furnished.  It  is  as 
poor  sanitary  economy  as  it  is  of  labor,  to  scatter  the  sick  among  the  well. 
This  has  often  been  the  only  recourse. 

There  is  but  one  Orphan  Asylum  in  the  State.  It  is  located  at  Hele¬ 
na.  The  neatness  and  order  of  everything  here,  in  the  midst  of  so  many 
children,  and  such  inconveniences,  is  as  surprising  as  it  is  beneficent. 
These  little  ones  owe  a  debt  of  gratitude  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Clarke,  the  self- 
denying  Managers. 


CHARITIES. 

Under  the  guardianship  of  this  Supervision,  the  Freedmen  are  far 
less  dependent  upon  charity  than  is  supposed  by  the  good  people  of  the 
North.  Where  their  rights  are  secured,  necessaries  furnished  at  reasona¬ 
ble  prices,  and  they  are  directed  to  employment  and  sources  of  gain,  there 
is  no  doubt  of  the  ability  of  the  great  majority  to  support  themselves,  and 
educate  their  children.  The  new  comers  require  temporary  assistance, 
and  those  helpless  through  age  or  misfortune  are  necessarily  dependent ; 
but  these,  by  organization  and  prudent  management,  are  already  self-sup- 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE. 


73 


porting.  If  a  fair  crop  had  been  obtained  this  year,  not  only  rations  and 
labor  could  have  been  paid  for  by  the  Freedmen  Department,  but  the 
needed  hospitals,  Orphan  asylums,  schools  and  clothing  for  the  indigent, 
could  have  been  furnished  without  assistance.  They  are,  therefore,  in 
temporary  need  of  help ;  and  most  urgently,  in  the  building  and  furniture 
of  Hospitals  and  School  Houses.  In  clothing,  when  that  purchased  by 
the  funds  of  the  Freedmen  Department  shall  have  reaehed  the  different 
parts  of  the  State,  as  it  has  already  Helena,  it  will  be  found  that  far  more 
was  called  for  and  provided  than  was  actually  needed  to  make  all  com¬ 
fortable.  As  has  been  intimated,  the  greatest  charity  is  protection  and 
guardianship ;  and  if  the  Government  furnishes  this,  they  will  soon  rise 
beyond  the  need  of  any.  The  more  efficient,  the  more  temporarily  it  will 
be  required.  The  hands,  from  which  the  President’s  Proclamation  has  re¬ 
leased  them,  are  still  clutching  after  them.  Though  the  fury  of  the  beast, 
which  has  had  its  appetite  sharpened  by  a  taste  of  blood,  and  been  depri¬ 
ved  of  its  prey,  be  subdued  into  cajolery  and  deceit ;  it  still  keeps  its  eye 
on  its  victim.  A  swift  and  strong  arm  only  can  restrain  the  passions 
of  these  diverse  races  and  castes,  until  unity  of  interests  shall  be  develop¬ 
ed,  and  respect  for  the  law  secured.  The  struggle  for  impartial  freedom  in 
the  South  would  otherwise  be  long  and  violent.  Only  by  this  can  the 
freed  people  be  protected  from  the  corruption  and  lawlessness  of  the  worst 
of  our  armies,  as  well  as  the  rapacity  of  speculators.  A  protection  merely 
advisory  would  be  emasculated  and  powerless.  Civil  Agents,  empowered 
with  military  authority,  wouid  be  absurd.  In  the  condition  of  the  South, 
and  in  the  midst  of  armies,  only  Military  authority  in  friendly  hands 
will  avail. 


HOMESTEADS. 

The  development  of  the  wealth  of  the  South,  and  the  self-dependence 
of  the  blacks,  would  be  greatly  hastened,  if  the  Government  were  at  pains 
to  open  to  them,  and  encourage  them  to  take,  Homesteads  upon  the  aban¬ 
doned  plantations.  Many  in  the  State  have  this  year  cultivated  for  them¬ 
selves  little  patches,  and  even  hundreds  of  acres.  Large  numbers  have  sa¬ 
ved  enough  to  buy  their  mules  and  plows,  and  furnish  themselves  during 
the  coming  season.  The  number  of  these  independent  planters  could  be 
quadrupled  every  year.  Contrary,  however,  to  the  interests  of  these  peo¬ 
ple,  as  well  as  that  of  the  Government,  it  would  appear  that  large  capital¬ 
ists  have  too  much  the  preference.  It  should  be  known,  that  tens  of  acres 
could  be  rented,  as  well  as  hundreds.  As  it  is,  the  great  plantations  of  the 
old  regime  are  scarce  ever  broken. 

The  great  weakness  of  the  negro  is  in  his  social  instincts.  This  has 
been  aggravated  by  being  herded  together  in  such  numbers  on  these  great 
plantations.  They  need  to  be  enticed  to  set  themselves  apart  in  families. 
Separated  upon  these  small  farms,  they  will  grow  in  domestic  virtues  and 
self-reliance.  Common  schools  will  then  be  possible  at  the  South.  Thus 
set  in  their  way  by  encouragement  and  protection,  the  ends  of  all  supervis¬ 
ion,  which  must  be  as  speedily  as  possible  to  do  away  with  the  necessity 
for  anv,  will  be  effectually  accomplished. 

10 


74 


REPORT  OF  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN, 


A  MODEL  NEGRO. 

That  the  negro  is  not  wholly  without  ability  to  realize  this  prospect, 
there  is  convincing  proof  in  the  life  of  a  full  black,  at  Pine  Blulf,  well 
known  as  “  Uncle  Reuben.”  He  was  born  in  Georgia,  and  fell  to  a  master 
who  had  but  few  slaves.  He  discovered  such  energy  and  tact,  as  well  as 
complete  devotion  to  his  master’s  interests,  that  the  latter  entrusted  every 
thing  to  his  management.  The  slave  raised  him  from  poverty  to  wealth. 
The  master  was  enabled  to  buy  a  large  plantation  in  Arkansas,  and  stock 
it  with  negroes.  As  his  circumstances  grew  easier,  his  habits  became  ex¬ 
travagant.  His  estate  became  involved ;  and  when  overwhelmed  with  in¬ 
debtedness,  he  died.  The  widow,  helpless  and  without  resource,  called 
Uncle  Reuben,  told  him  that  she  had  no  one  to  rely  upon  but  him, 
and  placed  her  all  in  his  hands.  He  was  aroused  by  this  touching  confi- 
tidence.  He  became  more  ambitious  than  ever  to  bring  the  first  Bolls  of 
Cotton  to  town,  and  to  average  still  more  to  the  acre  than  the  neighboring 
planters.  The  number  of  bales  grown  on  the  plantation  increased  every 
year  out.  The  children  were  sent  North  to  school.  His  success  was  so 
remarkable,  that  the  white  overseers  around  became  jealous  of  a  negro’s 
outstripping  them.  They  compelled  the  mistress  to  place  a  white  nomi¬ 
nally  over  him.  He  was  not,  however,  interfered  with,  until  the  young 
masters  returned  from  the  North.  The  fact  that  a  negro  slave  had  educa¬ 
ted  them,  and  by  his  own  prudence  and  energy  had  amassed  for  them  a 
fortune  of  nearly  $150,000.  was  not  as  grateful  to  them  as  true.  His  mis¬ 
tress,  however,  always  treated  him  as  kindly  as  she  dared.  On  the  ap¬ 
proach  of  our  armies  he  remained  till  all  had  left  but  himself  and  family. 
Being  assured  by  our  officers  that  the  President’s  Proclamation  was  true, 
he  also  quietly  came  in.  Spirited  and  proud,  he  is  the  most  humble  of  all. 
He  refuses  to  sit  in  the  presence  of  whites,  and  touches  his  hat  to  you  at 
every  address. 


LACK  OF  OFFICERS. 

It  is  but  justice  to  refer  to  the  inadequate  number  of  officers,  which 
Major  W.  G.  Sargent  has  had  to  assist  him  in  the  supervision  of  the  State. 

For  this  reason  he  has  been  unable  to  extend  its  benefits  to  all  points 
as  fully  as  could  have  been  desired,  and  has  been  compelled  to  do  the 
greater  part  of  the  duties  of  the  Post  Superintendent  at  Little  Rock,  as 
well  as  those  of  his  own  proper  office. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be 

Your  obedient  servant, 

L.  B.  EATON,  Lieut.  Col. 

Com’g  69th  U.  S.  C.  I. 

QUESTIONS  TO  AGENTS  OF  BENEVOLENT  SOCIETIES,  &C. 

The  following  are  questions  proposed  to  agents  of  benevo¬ 
lent  organizations,  teachers,  and  others  laboring  for  the  Freed- 
men  within  the  territory  of  this  Supervision  ;  with  a  synopsis  of 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE. 


75 


the  answers  returned  by  the  following  gentlemen : — Rev.  S.  G. 
Wright,  agent  of  the  American  Missionary  Association,  at 
Natchez;  Rev.  Joseph  Warren,  D.  D.,  Chaplain  and  Assistant 
in  Charge  of  Freedmen;  Rev.  James  A.  Hawley,  Chaplain  and 
Superintendent  of  Colored  Schools  in  the  District  of  Vicksburg, 
including  Natchez ;  Mr.  J.  C.  R.  Faris,  agent  ot  the  Reformed 
Presbyterian  Church,  at  Natchez;  Rev.  Joel  Grant,  Chaplain; 
and  Rev.  L.  H.  Cobb,  Superintendent  of  Colored  Schools  at 
Memphis.  All  these  gentlemen  have  given  attention  to  the 
Freedmen  from  an  educational  and  moral  stand-point.  Dr.  War¬ 
ren  has  had  fifteen  years  experience  among  the  people  of 
Northern  Hindustan;  Mr.  Wright  nineteen  years  among  the  In¬ 
dians  of  our  N orthwest ;  and  Mr.  Grant  has  been  appointed 
Superintendent  of  Colored  Schools  for  Arkansas,  after  having 
had  much  experience  among  the  Freedmen  since  early  in  1863. 

1.  What  can  you  say  of  the  aptitude  of  the  colored  people 
to  receive  instruction  ? 

All  answer : — They  receive  instruction  very  readily. 

Mr.  Wright: — Used  to  think  them  inferior;  but  two  years’ expe¬ 
rience  convinces  me  that  they  are  equal  to  whites  with  equal  advantages. 

Three  answer : — They  have  great  aptness  for  language,  music  and 
the  imitative  arts. 

Messrs.  Hawley  and  Warren: — Perhaps  they  will  prove  deficient  in 
logic  and  the  mathematics. 

2.  Compare  the  mixed  and  unmixed  races  in  this  respect  ? 

Messrs.  Hawley  and  Wright: — The  mixed  are  generally  superior; 
but  have  had  greater  advantages. 

Messrs.  Faris  and  Cobb : — Think  the  black  superior  to  mixed. 

Messrs.  Grant  and  Warren : — Can  see  no  difference. 

3.  Have  you  been  disappointed  or  otherwise  in  the  results 
of  your  endeavors  to  improve  and  elevate  this  people  ? 

Messrs.  Hawley,  Warren,  Cobb  and  Faris  : — No :  the  results  are  bet¬ 
ter  than  we  had  thought  slavery  had  prepared  them  to  exhibit. 

Mr.  Grant : — No :  I  never  believed  the  pro-slavery  argument,  that  the 
negro  is  incapable  of  intellectual  culture. 

Mr.  Wright : — The  whole  work,  so  far,  is  a  success. 

4.  What  has  been  the  general  condition  of  the  Freedmen 
as  they  first  come  within  the  Federal  lines  ? 

All  answer : — Poor,  ragged  generally ;  many  diseased  and  dying  ; 
some  shrewd  ones  come  in  better  condition ;  hopeful,  but  with  intelligence 
much  depressed. 


76 


REPORT  OF  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN, 


5.  Does  your  observation  show  their  willingness  to  labor 
cheerfully  for  compensation  ? 

Mr.  Hawley : — Generally ;  but  there  are  some  thriftless. 

Dr.  Warren  : — Yes ;  average  as  well  as  whites. 

Four  answer: — Yes;  with  good  treatment  and  fair  hope  of  remune¬ 
ration. 

6.  What  improvement,  in  this  respect,  do  you  see  ? 

All  answer,  in  substance : — Success  increases  industry  and  enterprise. 

Mr.  Grant : — Some  have  been  demoralized  by  faithless  employers. 

Dr.  Warren: — Improvement,  or  the  reverse,  accords  with  the  treat¬ 
ment  they  receive  from  employers. 

7.  What  improvement  do  you  observe  in  their  domestic 
relations  ? 

Four  answer : — Freedmen  generally  delighted  with  the  privilege  of 
forming  lawful  marriages. 

Dr.  Warren: — No  people  ever  grew  in  civilization  so  fast. 

Mr.  Wright: — Parents  strongly  desire  their  children  to  be  educated. 

8.  Will  the  people,  if  aided  at  first,  and  protected,  be  able, 
soon,  to  take  care  of  themselves  ? 

All  answer: — Yes;  if  opportunity  be  afforded. 

9.  What  patriotism  and  spirit  is  displayed  by  them  in  en¬ 
tering  the  army,  and  by  their  conduct  in  it  ? 

All  answer : — Generally  very  patriotic ;  though  they  need  incitement 
to  enter  the  army. 

10.  In  the  present  disturbed  state  of  the  country,  is  mili¬ 
tary  protection  essential  to  their  well  being  ? 

Mr.  Hawley : — Essential  while  the  war  continues.  No  other  will 
answer. 

Messrs.  Faris  and  Wright : — The  same.  And  they  must  be  governed. 

Mr.  Grant : — Indispensable. 

Mr.  Cobb : — Absolutely. 

Dr.  Warren  : — Absolutely.  Any  other  a  mockery. 

11.  Should  the  benevolent  contributions  of  the  North,  in 
their  behalf,  be  increased  ? 

Mr.  Hawley: — Yes. 

Mr.  Cobb : — If  rightly  directed,  the  present  rates  are  ample. 

All  others: — Yes,  at  least  until  peace. 

12.  Is  the  provision  through  this  department,  of  rations, 
quarters,  &c.,  for  the  benevolent  engaged  in  your  work  of  suffi¬ 
cient  consequence,  in  your  judgment,  to  justify  this  outlay  of 
the  Government  for  the  mental  and  moral  improvement  of  this 
people  ? 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE. 


77 


Mr.  Grant: — Yes;  it  has  done  much  good. 

Mr.  Cobb : — Its  cost  bears  no  proportion  to  the  good  done. 

Messrs.  Wright  and  Warren: — The  results  shew  it ;  yet  a  Govern¬ 
ment  officer  should  judge  whether  persons  enjoying  this  provision  are 
worthy  of  it. 

Mr.  Faris : — I  think  so. 

Mr.  Hawley: — Yes;  but  the  issue  should  be  with  discrimination.  In¬ 
considerate  persons  may  overtax  the  Government.  Rivalry  of  societies 
may  have  such  a  tendency. 


QUESTIONS  TO  COMMANDING  OFFICERS. 


A  series  of  questions  were  addressed  to  General  Officers, 
who  have  been  observant  of  Freedmen’s  affairs.  They  have  done 
me  the  personal  favor,  and  the  country  the  service,  of  giving 
their  private  opinions  in  brief.  The  following  synopsis  of  answers 
is  presented.  Their  differences  in  reference  to  some  details  only 
give  more  strength  to  their  points  of  agreement;  on  which 
their  witness  is  conclusive.  These  Officers  have  had  all  of  us — 
Superintendents,  Provost  Marshals,  Planters,  Teachers,  Inspec¬ 
tors  and  Freedmen,  under  view,  and  their  opinions  close  the 
testimony  gathered. 

1.  Do  you  consider  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves  a  help  to 
military  operations  ? 

Maj.  Gen.  Dana,  Commanding  the  Department  of  the  Mississippi : — 
“I  consider  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves  as  a  decided  help  to  ultimate 
military  success,  and  a  necessity  to  and  of  military  operations.” 

Brig.  Gen.  Brayman,  Commanding  U.  S.  Forces  at  Natchez : — “It 
furnishes  us  with  soldiers  inured  to  the  climate  and  to  labor,  and  at  the 
same  times  dries  up  the  enemy’s  source  of  supply,  and  transfers  to  our 
Service  those  who  would  otherwise  be  used  against  us.” 

Brig.  Gen.  Andrews,  Commanding  U.  S.  Forces  at  Du  Yall’s  Bluff  : 
— Agrees  with  the  above,  and  adds — “I  do  not  hesitate  to  say,  that  what  I 
have  seen  of  slavery  and  freedom,  as  regards  the  colored  race,  since  the 
war  commenced,  has  made  me  an  abolitionist — and  this  exclusive  of  con¬ 
sidering  them  as  a  help  in  the  war.  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  their  eman¬ 
cipation  has  been  a  blessing  to  them.” 

“Brig.  Gen.  Hawkins,  Commanding  a  Division  of  Colored  Troops  at 
Vicksburg : — “The  emancipation  of  slaves  is  a  great  help  to  military  ope¬ 
rations,  in  bringing  to  our  side  a  male  able  to  bear  arms,  and  anxious  to 
fight  with  us  for  the  security  of  their  freedom.  On  the  other  hand,  eman¬ 
cipation  is  an  injury  to  us,  as  it  prevents  supplies  being  raised  in  the  rebel 
country,  on  which  our  army  might  subsist  while  making  marches  or  ex¬ 
peditions.  *  *  *  Only  the  strong  and  able-bodied  should  be 

allowed  to  follow  our  troops  when  marching  in  the  rebel  country.  * 


78 


REPORT  OP  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN, 


*  *  The  produce  raised  by  the  others  staying  at  home  would  do  us 

more  service  that  it  would  do  the  rebels.” 

[The  common  opinion  is,  that  the  able-bodied  would  not 
generally  follow  us  unless  their  families  were  also  allowed  to 
do  so.] 

Brig.  Gen.  Chetlain,  Commanding  Colored  Troops  of  Tennessee, 
through  Maj.  Paddock,  his  Inspector  General,  an  observant  and  accom¬ 
plished  officer : — “Upon  the  whole  I  consider  the  emancipation  of  the 
blacks,  and  their  consequent  employment  in  the  army,  a  great  help  to  the 
service  and  the  military  operations  of  the  Government.” 

2.  While  the  present  disturbed  condition  of  our  country 
remains,  do  you  believe  that  the  negroes  can  receive  protection 
and  justice  through  any  other  than  military  organizations  and 
instrumentalities  ? 

Maj.  Gen.  Dana: — “I  believe  that  while  Freedmen  not  in  the  army 
are  allowed  to  remain  at  military  posts  or  within  the  lines  of  the  army, 
they  can  only  receive  protection  and  justice  through  military  instrumen¬ 
talities,  directly  or  indirectly.” 

Brig.  Gen.  Brayman : — “As  the  sections  where  the  negroes  are  found 
are  in  insurrection  and  under  military  law,  no  other  than  military  agen¬ 
cies  can  by  employed  in  behalf  of  the  negro.” 

Brig.  Gen.  Andrews  : — “I  think  Freedmen  at  present  should  be  un¬ 
der  the  military  authority.” 

Brig.  Gen.  Hawkins : — “I  do  not  consider  a  military  organization 
necessary  for  their  care.  Of  course  all  matters  must  be  under  military 
control  as  long  as  the  war  lasts  or  martial  law  prevails.” 

Brig.  Gen.  Chetlain : — “If  in  special  localities  it  be  deemed  proper  to 
collect  them  together,  and  extend  over  them  the  care  and  guardianship  of 
the  public  authorities,  I  should  say  that,  at  present,  a  military  system 
would  more  nearly  answer  the  purpose  than  would  any  civil  agency.  I 
cannot  hope  for  much  more  than  partial  protection  and  justice  in  favored 
portions  of  the  country  until  the  restoration  of  civil  authority  has  opened 
the  way  for  a  legislative  provision  of  remedies  against  violence  and  fraud.” 

3.  To  what  extent  would  you,  for  the  present,  seek  to  with, 
draw  the  blacks  from  their  pursuits  of  private  industry — agricul¬ 
tural,  mechanical,  etc.,  for  the  purpose  of  their  enlistment  or 
employment  in  the  army  ? 

Maj.  Gen.  Dana: — “I  hold  that  every  Freedman  fit  for  military  duty 
should  be  placed  in  the  ranks.” 

Brig.  Gen.  Brayman : — “The  black  people  should  be  withdrawn  as 
little  as  possible  from  their  accustomed  pursuits — a  fair  proportion  only, 
as  in  the  case  of  white  troops,  brought  into  the  army.” 

Brig.  Gen.  Andrews : — “I  am  decidedly  in  favor  of  conscripting  col¬ 
ored  men  into  the  service.  Then,  if  they  are  treated  as  soldiers  should  be 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE. 


79 


treated,  and  not  made  to  do  more  than  their  share  of  fatigue  duty,  they 
will  be  well  contented.” 

Brig.  Gen.  Hawkins : — “All  able  bodied  men  who  can  pass  a  surgical 
examination,  should  be  received  into  the  army  by  voluntary  enlistment. 
Pressing  them  into  service  is  a  violation  of  their  rights  as  freemen.” 

Brig.  Gen.  Chetlain  : — “  I  should  proceed  with  the  recruitment  of 
blacks  as  rapidly  and  as  extensively  as  compatible  with  the  number  of  able- 
bodied  men  to  be  had,  and  their  proper  organization  for  war ;  and  this 
without  regarding  the  numbers  left  behind  for  the  industrial  pursuits  na¬ 
med.” 

4.  How  .can  the  freedmen  best  serve  the  country  and  their 
race  ? 

Maj.  Gen.  Dana : — “  For  the  present  by  military  service.” 

Brig.  Gen.  Brayman : — “  By  having  a  country  given  them  ;  being  al¬ 
lowed  to  aid  in  saving  it ;  and  by  being  educated  to  habits  of  self-reliance, 
industry  and  virtue.  Take  the  lands  of  rebel  masters,  who  own  them 
without  earning  them,  and  give  them  to  loyal  slaves,  whose  labor  has 
made  them  valuable.” 

Brig.  Gen.  Andrews  : — Agrees  with  above. 

Brig.  Gen.  Hawkins  : — By  enlisting  in  the  army.  The  country  is 
benefited,  and  they  are  educated  in  manliness  and  self-respect.” 

Brig.  Gen.  Chetlain  : — “  The  freedman  at  present  best  serves  his  coun¬ 
try  by  becoming  a  Union  soldier.  *  *  *  There  should  be  the  estab¬ 
lishment  of  the  ordinance  of  Christian  Marriage ;  and  stringent  punish¬ 
ment  for  adultery.  The  freedman  should  acquire  property,  and  take  a 
family  name ;  and,  as  a  reward  for  military  service,  he  should  have  land 
enough  for  a  homestead.” 

5.  Please  state  any  facts,  or  make  any  suggestions  bearing 
upon  the  military  value  of  this  race,  or  any  methods  by  which  it 
may  be  made  more  available. 

Maj.  Gen.  Dana: — “The  whole  record  of  military  service  in  this 
war  by  the  freedman  shows  their  adaptibility  to,  and  great  value  in,  the 
military  service.  The  only  change  I  can  suggest  in  the  present  system  of 
recruiting  for  colored  troops  is,  that  every  freedman  capable  of  military 
service  be  declared  a  soldier,  and  put  in  the  ranks.” 

Brig.  Gen.  Brayman  : — As  long  as  rebels  choose  to  fight  for  the  de¬ 
struction  of  the  Government,  I  would  train  their  own  slaves  to  fight 
them.  After  that  I  would  make  industrious  citizens  of  them.  I  would 
have  all,  black  and  white,  prepared  in  peace  for  soldiers  in  war,  should  it 
come  again.” 

Brig.  Gen.  Andrews : — “  I  have  had  one  regiment  of  colored  troops  in 
my  command  for  several  months,  and  it  is  a  most  excellent  regiment.” 

Brig.  Gen.  Hawkins  : — Colored  men  make  good  infantry ;  and  for 
cavalry  I  think  they  would  make  the  best  in  the  world ;  and  when  practi¬ 
cable  they  should  be  organized  as  cavalry.” 

Brig.  Gen.  Chetlain  : — “  In  my  opinion  the  amount  of  labor  demand¬ 
ed  of  colored  troops  of  this  command  has  materially  retarded  instruction, 


80 


REPORT  OF  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN, 


and  to  some  extent  affected  the  state  of  discipline.  *  *  *  The  pro¬ 

cesses  now  in  employ  for  the  examination  of  officers,  and  the  dismissal  of 
the  incompetent,  should  be  kept  up  until  the  service  is  rid  of  that  class. 
*  *  *  These  troops  should  have  a  separate  organization  and  adminis¬ 
tration,  at  least  as  high  as  Brigades  and  Divisions ;  and  they  should  be  em 
ployed  as  cavalry  to  a  greater  extent.  They  ride  well,  are  acquainted  with 
and  not  averse  to  the  care  of  horses,  and  are  perfectly  familiar  with  the 
country.” 

6.  Is  the  care  of  this  people  a  necessity  both  to  themselves 
and  the  government  ? — and  what  is  the  importance  of  relieving 
department  and  post  commanders  of  the  burden  caring  for 
them,  or  of  entrusting  this  work  to  some  sound  and  effective  or¬ 
ganization  that  shall  meet  this  necessity  ? 

Maj.  Gen.  Dana: — “It  is  of  great  importance  that  commanding  offi¬ 
cers  be  relieved  of  the  care  and  responsibility  of  a  non-military  burden, 
and  the  government  of  their  support,  as  early  as  possible.  Whenever  these 
people  are  concentrated  in  camps  for  care  and  support,  they  should  be  at 
points  where  the  soil  is  easy  of  cultivation,  and  the  position  defensible ; 
they  should  be  under  military  protection,  and  consequently  under  milita¬ 
ry  control ;  all  classes  of  sharpers  and  traders  should  be  kept  away  from 
them.  The  benevolent  of  the  North  should  seek  means  to  place  them 
through  the  country  where  they  would  be  enabled  to  earn  a  livelihood  for 
themselves,  relieve  the  present  wants  of  labor  on  farms,  and  afford  fam¬ 
ilies  the  now  much  needed  house  servants.  It  appears  to  me  also  that 
the  Northern  factories  could  advantageously  employ  great  numbers  of  the 
women  and  children.” 

Brig.  Gen.  Brayman : — “  In  transferring  an  untaught  people  from  the 
care  of  their  owners  to  our’s,  we  become  responsible  for  all  the  education , 
care,  honest  employment  and  protection  we  can  give  them ;  considering 
their  rebel  masters  responsible  for  the  sufferings  incident  to  their  transition 
from  ignorance,  helplessness  and  slavery,  to  that  improved  condition  of 
which,  in  a  state  of  freedom,  this  race  may  be  capable.  It  being  the  busi¬ 
ness  of  Department  and  Post  Commanders  to  conduct  military  operations, 
not  to  found  colonies,  nor  to  engage  in  utilitarian  enterprizes  ;  the  inter¬ 
ests  of  the  Freedmen  should  be  in  charge  of  other  organizations — all,  how¬ 
ever,  being  subordinated  to  the  great  purpose  of  our  present  military  con¬ 
dition — that  of  suppressing  the  rebellion,  and  restoring  to  the  Government 
its  just  supremacy.” 

Brig.  Gen.  Hawkins  : — “  All  people  need  care,  and  the  observance  of 
justice  towards  them.  The  chief  need  is  to  furnish  them  with  labor,  and 
to  do  as  little  as  possible  for  them  in  the  way  of  charity.” 

Brig.  Gen.  Chetlain : — “  At  all  events,  I  should  deem  it  highly  impor¬ 
tant  that  Post  and  Department  Commanders  be  relieved  of  the  burden 
spoken  of. 


EDUCATIONAL  AND  MORAL  EFFORTS. 


I  am  indebted  to  Chaplain  Warren  for  the  following  presen- 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE. 


81 


tation  of  educational  facts,  and  considerations  touching  Schools 
of  Letters  and  Industry,  Marriage,  and  Orphan  Asylums  : 

schools. 

The  officers  of  the  Freedmen’s  Department  would  have  die** 
charged  their  trust  very  imperfectly,  had  they  not  felt  that  the 
mental  and  moral  enlightenment  of  the  people  committed  to 
their  charge  was  a  great  object  to  be  secured.  Employment  and 
Protection  were  necessities  preceding  Instruction  in  order  only 
— not  in  importance. 

EARLY  EFFORTS. 

Accordingly,  from  the  very  first,  efforts  were  made  to  se¬ 
cure  the  assistance  of  Army  Chaplains,  and  such  other  men  as 
were  likely  to  feel  the  necessity  of  attention  to  this  matter ;  and 
the  labors  of  benevolent  persons,  which  were  soon  offered,  to  aid 
in  instructing  the  freed  people,  were  welcomed  and  encouraged. 
Teachers  and  Missionaries  from  the  American  Missionary  Asso¬ 
ciation,  the  Western  Freedmen’s  Aid  Commission,  and  the  So¬ 
ciety  of  Friends  were  the  first  in  the  field. 

After  the  surrender  of  Vicksburg  and  the  occupation  of 
Natchez,  a  large  number  of  these  voluntary  laborers  came  to  aid 
in  this  work.  Beside  the  Societies  already  named,  the  Board  of 
Missions  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church,  the  Reformed 
Presbyterians,  the  United  Brethren  in  Christ,  the  North  Wes¬ 
tern  Freedmen’s  Aid  Commission,  and  the  National  Freedmen’s 
Relief  Association,  sent  many  persons  ;  and  beside  these  were 
occasional  laborers  from  other  bodies. 

RATIONS,  ETC.,  ORDERED. 

The  Government  ordered  that  all  persons,  duly  accredited, 
who  should  come  into  the  field  for  this  purpose,  should  be  lur- 
nished  with  transportation,  quarters,  rations  and  places  in  which 
to  teach,  so  far  as  practicable.  The  Freedmen’s  Department  was, 
of  course,  brought  immediately  into  connection  with  these  par¬ 
ties.  It  was  soon  arranged  that  they  should  draw  their  rations 
with  the  approval  of  the  resident  officers  of  the  Department. 
Yet  the  connection  of  this  Department  with  such  teachers  was 
very  loose.  No  orders  were  given  to  the  Superintendent  of 
Freedmen  by  means  of  which  he  could  do  more  than  advise  in 
regard  to  the  location  and  distribution  of  teachers.  No  author- 

11 


82 


REPORT  OF  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN, 


ity  was  given  to  superintend  their  schools,  to  secure  uniformity 
of  school-hooks,  or  to  regulate  in  any  manner  the  conduct  of 
teachers  and  agents. 

POWER  AND  MEANS  INADEQUATE. 

» 

In  these  circumstances  the  officers  of  the  Department  did 
what  they  could  to  aid  the  work.  They  had  no  funds  to  provide 
school-houses  where  these  were  lacking ;  and  many  of  the  mis¬ 
sionaries  and  teachers  were  obliged  to  live  and  teach  in  places 
entirely  inconvenient  and  inadequate.  Our  efforts  could  be  only 
partly  efficient.  Complaints  were  sometimes  uttered,  the  injus¬ 
tice  of  which  only  they  can  know,  who  take  properly  into  con¬ 
sideration  our  circumstances  and  the  limitations  of  our  power. 

In  this  Report  it  is  impossible  to  give  a  detailed  statement 
of  the  labor  performed  by  each  body  of  teachers.  Only  a  gen¬ 
eral  notion  of  what  was  accomplished  can  be  conveyed. 

In  the  cities,  excepting  Memphis,  there  were,  last  year,  a 
sufficient  numbers  of  teachers.  The  attendance  of  scholars  upon 
the  schools  was  good — almost  all,  of  proper  age,  being  in  a  school 
the  greater  part  of  the  time.  Some  teachers  had  elementary 
books  furnished  by  their  societies ;  some  had  old  books,  which 
were  sent  down  from  the  North  in  great  variety — so  that  a  school 
would  be  furnished  with  books,  and  yet  not  so  that  even  a  small 
class  could  have  the  same  kind  ;  the  Tract  Societies  and  Denom¬ 
inational  Boards  gave  many  books.  The  schools  were  almost 
universally  without  any  desks,  had  no  proper  seats,  and  no  suffi¬ 
cient  rooms.  And  yet  under  all  these  disadvantages,  thousands 
learned  to  read,  and  began  to  proceed  beyond  this. 

In  the  Freedmen’s  camps  the  same  state  of  things  was  found, 
with  quarters  and  school  accommodations  worse.  Many  of  the 
teachers  submitted  to  privations  and  hardships,  on  account  of 
which  they  are  entitled  to  the  gratitude  of  those  whom  they 
came  to  help,  and  the  admiration  of  all  who  have  any  perception 
of  the  dignity  of  self-denial  in  laboring  for  the  poor.  In  some 
of  the  camps  and  farms  it  was  found  impossible  to  maintain 
schools  regularly ;  and  in  one  or  two  no  accommodations  at  all 
could  be  found. 

It  was  intended  that  schools  and  teachers  should  be  main¬ 
tained  on  the  leased  plantations;  but  experience  has  proved  that 
men  who  entered  upon  cotton  cultivation,  with  the  intention  of 
making  a  great  fortune  in  a  single  year,  were  not  to  be  expected 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE. 


83 


voluntarily  to  meet  our  intentions  in  this  respect.  With  two  or 
three  exceptions  they  made  no  effort  to  secure  instruction  for 
the  people  whom  they  employed.  On  most  of  the  places  it  was 
entirely  impracticable  for  teachers  to  reside,  because  they  were 
unsafe  for  any  one.  If  any  system  of  leasing  and  cultivating 
abandoned  plantations  be  adopted  in  future,  some  arrangement 
ought  to  be  made  to  compel  attention  to  this  subject!  But  little 
preparation  ol  the  Freed  People,  exhibiting  respectability  of 
character  or  fitness  for  the  business  of  life,  can  be  secured  on 
plantations  managed  as  most  of  them  have  been  for  the  year 
now  closing. 

Much  work  has  also  been  done  in  the  Colored  Regiments, 
by  teachers  from  the  North,  and  by  their  Chaplains.  This  De¬ 
partment  has  had  less  to  do  with  this  branch  of  the  general  work 
than  with  any  other;  yet  it  has  been  our  desire  to  promote  and 
encourage  it.  We  have  aided  to  secure  teachers  lor  Regiments, 
and  have  sought  to  exercise  all  the  influence  that  could  properly 
be  exerted  in  affairs  totally  in  the  power,  and  at  the  responsibil¬ 
ity,  of  others. 


EXTENT  OF  INSTRUCTION. 

We  have  no  means  of  saying  precisely  how  many  pupils 
have  been  under  instruction  within  the  Department.  Some,  but 
not  nearly  all,  of  the  teachers  have  kept  tolerably  accurate  accounts 
of  the  number  enrolled,  and  of  the  average  daily  attendance.  In 
most  cases  the  teachers  could  not  be  blamed  for  neglect  in 
this  matter.  Their  rooms  were  often  small  and  crowded ;  or 
they  were  large,  with  two  or  more  schools  in  one  room ;  the 
population  was  migratory  and  changeable;  the  children  were 
irregular  in  attendance ;  the  great  variety  of  books  made  classi¬ 
fication  often  impossible.  But  little  as  we  know  about  the  exact 
number  who  have  been  under  instruction,  and  as  to  how  many 
of  them  have  learned  to  read ;  we  need  not  hesitate  to  say,  that 
thousands  have  been  so  far  taught  that  they  can  read  the  simpler 
school-books,  and  hundreds  are  able  to  read  well.  Many  learned 
to  write,  and  many  began  the  study  of  arithmetic  and  geogra¬ 
phy.  The  seeds  of  knowledge  have  been  sown.  The  extraordi¬ 
nary  eagerness  of  the  people  for  instruction  has  been  encouraged. 
They  are  not  now  human  brutes,  whom  it  would  be  safe  to  re¬ 
enslave.  Irregular,  cramped,  partial,  rudimentary,  as  their  edu¬ 
cation  has  been,  it  has  unfitted  them  for  being  chattels.  They 


84 


REPORT  OP  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN, 


who  have  not  been  taught  at  all — who  may  never  be  taught  let¬ 
ters,  have  at  least  learned  that  they  are  men  and  women,  and 
that  the  great  heart  of  their  country  at  length  allows  their  right 
to  be  taught,  and  to  rise  up  to  a  plane  where  they  may  put  forth 
efforts  for  their  own  good. 

NECESSITY  OF  AUTHORITATIVE  SUPERVISION. 

The  preceding  statement  will  show  that  something  more  of 
system  and  supervision  was  necessary.  Useful  as  the  schools 
have  been,  they  might  have  been  more  so,  had  it  been  possible 
to  arrange  and  locate  them  in  the  best  manner.  Had  the  numer¬ 
ous  benevolent  societies  operating  in  this  field  been  able  to  com¬ 
bine  their  efforts  under  one  Superintendent,  a  satisfactory 
arrangement  might  have  been  made ;  but  this  was  found  to  be 
impracticable.  At  the  same  time  it  was  fully  proved,  by  experi- 
men,  that  nder  a  proper  system  the  tuition  fees  that  the  colored 
people  were  able  and  willing  to  pay,  together  with  the  aid  of  the 
benevolent  at  the  North,  would  secure  education  to  all  the  peo¬ 
ple.  As  indicative  of  what  judicious  persons,  not  in  the  Govern¬ 
ment  service,  thought  on  this  subject,  and  pointing  out  some  of 
the  evils  to  be  prevented  by  supervision,  the  following  extracts 
are  taken  from  a  report  by  Rev.  I.  J.  Hoile,  a  Baptist  Missionary, 
employed  among  the  colored  people  at  Memphis  since  Septem¬ 
ber,  1863. 

“  At  the  end  of  six  months,  three  schools  were  successfully  operating 
under  my  direction,  having  an  average  attendance  of  570  scholars.  Al¬ 
though  all  needy  applicants  were  admitted  free,  not  more  than  twenty 
in  the  three  schools  were  non-paying.” 

“  Since  the  first  of  March,  other  schools  have  been  opened  in  the  city, 
by  individuals  and  societies,  upon  the  same  principle ;  all  of  which,  I  be¬ 
lieve,  have  been  sufficiently  successful  to  establish  the  fact  that  under  a 
proper  and  uniform  system,  the  educational  necessities  of  the  whole  co¬ 
lored  population  of  the  city  could  be  provided  for  without  expense  to  the 
Government. 

“  While,  however,  it  is  evident  that  this  people  are  able  and  willing 
to  support  these  schools  for  themselves,  it  is  equally  evident  that  they  are 
not  yet  competent  to  conduct  them.  Consequently  they  must  be  conduc¬ 
ted  by  individuals,  or  societies,  interested  in  their  welfare,  either  under,  or 
independent  of  Government  control.  Thus  far  the  latter  experiment  (in¬ 
dependence  of  Government  control)  has  been  upon  trial.  I  think  it  has 
had  a  fair  trial ;  and  having  had  more  to  do  with  the  schools,  and  greater 
responsibility  in  connection  with  them,  than  any  other  individual,  I  most 
respectfully  submit  it,  as  my  full  and  decided  conviction,  that  it  does  not 
work  well,  either  for  the  conscientious  laborer,  or  for  the  people :  the  for- 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE. 


85 


mer  being  unshielded  from  suspicion’s  evil  eye  and  the  maligner’s  tongue  ; 
while  the  latter  are  constantly  liable  to  be  imposed  upon  by  unqualified 
teachers,  or  defrauded  by  those  whose  intellectual  fitness  is  more  than 
counterbalanced  by  the  dishonest  or  mercenary  motives  which  govern  their 
action.  Among  this  people  themselves,  also,  there  are  a  few  who  have  a 
little  knowledge,  against  whose  greed  of  gain  and  love  of  rule  they  need 
to  be  protected. 

“  It  follows,  therefore,  that  the  educational  interests  of  this  long  op¬ 
pressed  people  should  be  as  much  under  the  vigilant  guardianship  of  the 
Government  as  any  others ;  and,  consequently,  that  schools  and  teacher’s 
should  not  merely  be  protected  by,  but  subjected  to,  such  official  author¬ 
ity  and  direction  as  would  render  more  efficient  the  labors  of  the  one 
class,  and  the  more  certainly  ensure  the  good  of  the  other.  The  necessity 
of  placing  these  schools  under  official  supervision  became  apparent  to  me 
almost  as  soon  as  I  entered  upon  the  work  of  my  mission  ;  and,  as  1  have 
pursued  that  work,  evidence  has  so  accumulated,  that  I  have  frequently 
consulted  with  others  on  the  subject,  and  have  found  that  their  observa¬ 
tions  and  conclusions  almost  invariably  agreed  with  my  own.  *  * 

*  After  mature  deliberation  I  have  come  to  the  conclusion,  that  the  in¬ 
terests  of  these  schools  should  be  committed  to  the  Department  over 
which  you  have  the  superintendence.  To  the  Freedmen’s  Department 
they  seem  more  properly  to  belong.  I  take  the  liberty,  therefore,  very 
respectfully  to  suggest  the  propriety  of  your  presenting  this  matter  for 
the  consideration  of  Adjutant  General  Thomas. 

“It  is  easy,  I  think,  to  hit  upon  a  plan,  by  which  the  existing  schools 
may  be  brought  under  one  general  system ;  uew  ones  properly  located ; 
and  all  concerned  held  to  such  accountability  to  the  Department  as  would 
prevent  or  cure  abuses,  without  any  undue  restraint  upon  the  labors  of 
individuals  or  societies.  The  objects  to  be  aimed  at  are — 

“1st.  The  securing  of  better  order,  and  more  thorough  co-operation, 
by  systematizing  the  whole  work. 

“2d.  The  employment  of  none  but  properly  qualified  and  accredited 
teachers. 

“3d.  The  fixing  of  such  a  degree  of  responsibility  upon  each  and  all 
employed  as  shall  protect  the  people  from  imposition  and  abuse.” 

Before  the  report,  from  which  the  above  extracts  are  ta¬ 
ken,  was  received,  it  had  become  fully  evident  that  such  super¬ 
vision  was  necessary  ;  and  Maj.  Gen.  Washburne,  then  comman¬ 
ding  at  Memphis,  had  taken  some  steps  to  inaugurate  it  within 
his  command.  At  this  juncture  the  following  order  of  the  Secre¬ 
tary  of  War  was  issued  by  Adj.  General  Thomas ; — 

Cincinnati,  Ohio,  Sept.  26, 1864. 

Orders  No.  26.  [ Extract] 

II.  To  prevent  confusion  and  embarrassment,  the  General  Superinten¬ 
dent  of  Freedmen  will  designate  officers,  subject  to  his  orders,  as  Superin¬ 
tendents  of  Colored  Schools,  through  whom  he  will  arrange  the  location 
of  all  schools,  teachers,  the  occupation  of  houses,  and  other  details  per- 


86 


REPORT  OF  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN, 


taming  to  the  education  of  Freedmen.  All  officers  commanding,  and 
others,  will  render  the  necessary  aid. 

By  Order  of  the  Secretary  of  War: 

L.  THOMAS, 

Adjutant  General. 

In  carrying  out  this  order,  Rev.  L.  H.  Cobb  has  been  ap¬ 
pointed  Superintendent  of  Colored  Schools  in  the  District  of 
Memphis;  Rev.  James  A.  Hawley,  Chaplain  63d  U.  S.  Colored 
Infantry,  in  the  District  of  Vicksburg,  assisted  by  Rev.  Mr.  Buck- 
ley,  Chaplain  47th  Colored  Infantry,  at  Vicksburg,  and  Mr.  C. 
S.  Crossman  at  Natchez;  Rev.  Joel  Grant,  Chaplain  12th  Il¬ 
linois  Infantry,  in  the  District  of  Arkansas  ;  Mr.  W.  F.  Allen,  at 
Helena ;  and  Mr.  J.  L.  Roberts,  at  Columbus,  Ky. 

Instructions  have  been  framed  for  the  guidance  of  Superin¬ 
tendents.  They  provide  for  the  location  and  opening  of  schools 
sufficient  for  the  people ;  for  the  payment  of  tuition  fees  from 
25  cents  to  $1,25  a  month  for  each  scholar,  according  to  the  abil¬ 
ity  of  the  parents ;  for  admission  entirely  free  to  all  who  cannot 
pay,  and  clothing  to  be  furnished,  by  the  aid  of  the  Industrial 
Schools,  to  those  who  need  it ;  for  the  occupation  of  houses  and 
school-rooms;  for  necessary  apparatus  and  incidentals;  for  the 
government  of  teachers  in  connection  with  the  societies  that  send 
them ;  for  the  prevention  of  all  fraud  and  extortion  ;  and  for  the 
payment,  pro  rata ,  of  all  the  money  remaining,  after  meeting  in¬ 
cidental  expenses,  to  the  teachers, — thus  aiding  the  benevolent 
societies  to  support  their  agents.  The  hope  and  probability  is, 
that  after  a  little  time,  when  the  system  becomes  fully  establish¬ 
ed,  and  the  heavy  preliminary  expenditure  has  been  met,  the  in¬ 
come  will  be  sufficient  to  pay  all  the  wages  of  the  teachers. 

EARLY  REPORTS. - PROSPECTS. 

Reports  concerning  the  beginning  of  the  application  of  this 
system  have  come  in  from  some  of  the  superintendents.  The 
other  officers  of  the  Department  watch  and  assist  it.  So  far  as 
known,  the  agents  and  superintendents  of  the  benevolent  soci¬ 
eties  approve  of  the  scheme,  and  will  work  with  us  cordially. 
There  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  great  advantages  to  the  colored 
people  will  result  from  it.  Education — plain,  simple,  practical 
and  Christian,  is  the  great  want  of  this  people ;  that  education  it 
is  the  undoubted  duty  of  the  country  to  afford,  and  she  cannot 
afford  not  to  give  it.  It  is  believed  that  the  efforts  and  scheme 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE. 


87 


detailed  above  will  secure  this  end  to  the  highest  degree  allowed 
by  present  circumstances. 

INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS. 

To  meet  the  urgent  want  of  dependent  fugitives  from  sla¬ 
very,  and  of  the  sick  and  infirm,  the  Secretary  of  War  issued  or¬ 
ders  that  cast-off  soldiers’  clothing  should  be  given  for  their  use 
by  the  Medical  Department,  as  it  accumulated  at  hospitals. 
Large  qnantities  of  second-hand  clothing  were  also  collected  at 
the  North,  and  sent  down  in  charge  of  the  various  missions  en¬ 
gaged  in  educational  and  other  benevolent  efforts.  New  goods,  to 
be  made  up  into  garments,  more  especially  for  women  and  children, 
have  been  forwarded  by  the  same  parties ;  and  donations  from 
the  funds  of  the  Freedmen’s  Department  have  added  to  this  sup- 
P'y. 

To  adapt  these  goods  to  economical  use  a  great  deal  of  work 
has  been  found  necessary.  For  the  purpose  of  performing  this 
work ;  and  to  teach  thf  colored  women  to  labor  effectively  for 
their  families ;  industrial  schools  have  been  set  up.  The  teach¬ 
ers  and  agents  of  benevolent  societies  have  done  much  in  this 
direction.  The  Department  officers  encourage  these  efforts. 
Latterly  Lt.  R.  D.  Bird  has  been  placed  in  charge  of  three  such 
schools  at  Memphis ;  and,  as  far  as  it  may  be  necessary  or  useful 
to  do  so,  the  supervision  of  such  schools  will  be  assumed  by  us. 
Where  any  benevolent  work  carries  on  this  work  efficiently,  fur¬ 
ther  interference  than  mere  general  oversight  will  not  be  neces¬ 
sary. 


ORPHAN  ASYLUMS. 

The  mortality  attendant  upon  the  flight  of  thousands  from 
slavery ;  the  hardships  and  exposure  to  which  the  colored  people 
were  at  one  time  subject ;  and  the  death  of  soldiers  in  the  army ; 
have  caused  many  orphans  to  be  left  among  this  people  in  camps 
for  the  dependent  and  in  the  cities.  It  has  long  been  evident 
that  some  special  provision  for  their  care  was  necessary.  The 
subject  has  been  very  much  debated  among  the  officers  of  the 
Freedmen’s  Department ;  and  a  full  plan  of  an  institution  was 
prepared,  and,  with  the  approbation  of  the  General  Superinten¬ 
dent,  presented  to  several  benevolent  societies,  by  Chaplain  War¬ 
ren.  It  was  found,  however,  that  no  single  society  thought  it¬ 
self  able  to  undertake  the  support  of  a  large  institution  ;  and  a 


88 


REPORT  OF  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN, 


combination  of  different  bodies  for  this  purpose  proved  equally 
impracticable.  But  it  is  still  true,  that  a  large  and  central  insti¬ 
tution  is  desirable,  to  gather  all  needy  colored  orphans,  and  take 
the  place  of  the  several  insufficient  asylums  mentioned  below. 
We  do  not  undervalue  the  efforts  that  have  been  made.  They  will 
do  good,  as  far  as  they  go ;  but  they  are  not  commensurate  with 
the  necessities  of  the  Department. 

The  first  attempt  to  provide  for  orphans,  in  an  asylum,  must 
be  credited  to  “Aunt  Maria,”  a  colored  woman,  on  President’s 
Island  near  Memphis.  She  collected  a  considerable  number  ©f 
orphans,  in  connection  with  the  Freedmen’s  Camp,  and  still  has 
the  care  of  them,  aided  by  the  supervision  of  Miss  Mitchell,  one 
of  the  earliest  to  hasten  to  the  aid  of  the  destitute  people  flying 
from  slavery. 

The  next  effort  was  made  at  Helena — commenced  by  Major 
Sargent,  aided  by  Gen.  N.  B.  Buford  and  his  excellent  lady. 
Elkanah  Beard  procured  teachers  for  this  institution  from  the  So¬ 
ciety  of  Friends.  This  place  will  accommodate  about  sixty  or¬ 
phans  ;  and  at  present  is  nearly  full,  and  in  good  condition. 

Another  institution  has  been  commenced  at  Memphis,  by 
Mrs.  Canfield.  This  lady’s  husband,  Lt.  Col.  Canfield,  was  kill¬ 
ed  at  Shiloh  ;  and  since  that  loss  she  has  devoted  herself  to  works 
of  benevolence.  Her  house  will  accommodate  about  fifty  chil¬ 
dren. 

Another  asylum  has  been  opened  at  Natchez,  under  the  pa¬ 
tronage  of  the  Northwestern  Freedmen’s  Aid  Commission.  No 
definite  report  of  its  condition  has  reached  this  office. 

An  undertaking  of  the  same  kind  is  proposed  at  Vicksburg, 
of  which  it  is  now  too  soon  to  say  any  thing. 

MARRIAGE. 

Among  the  things  to  be  done,  to  fit  the  freed  people  for  a 
life  of  happiness  and  usefulness,  it  was  obvious  that  the  inculcation 
of  right  principles  and  practices  in  regard  to  the  social  relations 
ought  to  find  a  place.  The  General  Superintendent,  before  the 
period  embraced  in  this  report,  had  directed  the  attention  of  al  1 
his  Assistants  to  this  subject.  The  Chaplains  assisting  him  had 
acted  without  special  instructions,  and  a  great  number  of  couples 
were  married,  at  the  different  camps,  by  Rev.  Messrs.  Grant, 
Alexander  and  Fisk.  For  the  purpose  of  showing  what  was  at¬ 
tempted,  and  the  necessity  for  it,  the  following  extracts  are  here 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE. 


89 


inserted  from  a  Report,  made  by  Chaplain  Warren,  dated  May 
18th,  18641- 


state  UNDER  THE  OLD  SYSTEM. 

“All  are  aware  of  the  fact,  that  there  was  no  such  thing  as  lawful 
matrimony  among  the  slaves  under  the  former  system ;  but  many  do  not 
know  the  sad  consequences  of  this  fact.  An  impression  has  prevailed  ex¬ 
tensively,  that  proper  marriages  were  generally  encouraged  by  slave  own¬ 
ers  among  their  people  ;  and  that  great  regard  was  paid  to  these  connec¬ 
tions  in  buying  and  selling  servants.  That  these  statements  are  not  true 
we  have  abundant  reason  to  assert.  The  following  are  aaswers  to  an  in¬ 
terrogatory  sent  to  the  Post  Superintendents  in  1863.  Tire  question  is — 
“What  of  their  (the  colored  people’s)  marital  notions  and  practices  ?” 
One  answers — ‘All  wrong.’  Another — ‘Their  ideas  of  the  marriage  rela¬ 
tions  and  obligations  are  very  low.’  A  third — ‘Most  of  them  have  no  idea 
of  the  sacredness  of  the  marriage  tie,  declaring  that  marriage,  as  it  exists 
among  the  whites,  has  been  impossible  for  them.’  Another  says — ‘They 
know  what  marriage  is  among  the  whites,  but  have  yielded  to  the  sad  ne- 
nessity  of  their  case.’  Still  another  Superintendent  says — ‘They  have  had 
no  opportunity  for  correct  notions  and  practices.’  Another — ‘Loose — and 
from  example.’ 

“To  all  this  we,  who  have  been  still  more  conversant  with  these  peo¬ 
ple,  may  add  any  amount  of  testimony.  We  have  found  women  who, 
bear  indelible  marks  of  the  lash,  inflicted  to  force  them  into  unions  hate¬ 
ful  to  them  ;  or  to  break  them  off  from  attachments  in  which  they  wished 
to  live  virtuously,  and  make  them  ‘take  up  with’  others ;  or  to  force  them 
to  submit  to  the  lust  of  master  or  overseer.  Yet  the  freed  people  are  in 
no  way  unfit  to  sustain  the  marriage  relation  properly.  One  of  the  Super¬ 
intendents  referred  to  above  says — ‘In  other  cases  the  marriage  relation 
exists  in  all  its  sacredness  without  legal  sanction.’  And  another  remarks 
— ‘Free,  and  married,  they  will  maintain  the  marriage  relation  as  sacredly 
as  any  other  race.’  In  the  more  permanent  camps  the  Superintendents 
unitedly  declare,  that  the  introduction  of  the  rite  of  Christian  marriage 
and  requiring  its  strict  observance,  exerted  a  most  wholesome  influence 
upon  the  order  of  the  camps  and  the  conduct  of  the  people.” 

NEW  ARRANGEMENTS. 

But  it  was  found  that  system  was  necessary.  In  the  entire 
absence  of  civil  law,  recourse  to  military  authority  was  impera¬ 
tive.  Accordingly,  the  General  Superintendent  represented  this 
matter  to  Gen.  Thomas,  who  issued  the  following  order,  as  the 
initial  step  of  a  general  scheme: — Special  Orders,  No.  15 — 
Extract — dated  Natchez,  Miss.,  March  28,  1864 — 

“III.  Any  ordained  Minister  of  the  Gospel,  accredited  by  the  Gene- 


90  REPORT  OF  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN, 

ral  Superintendent  of  Freedmen,  is  hereby  authorized  to  solemnize  the 
rite  of  marriage  among  Freedmen. 

By  order  of  the  Secretary  of  War: 

L.  THOMAS,  Adjutant  General.” 

In  pursuance  of  the  great  object  thus  suggested,  the  Gen' 
eral  Superintendent  caused  to  be  prepared — 1st.  A  form  o^ 
Marriage  certificate,  which  refers  to  the  above  order  as  the  secu' 
lar  authority  for  such  marriages.  2nd.  A  return  to  be  made  to 
the  Post  Superintendents;  and  3rd,  a  License  to  Ministers  of  the 
Gospel,  to  marry  according  to  the  above  order,  accompanied  with 
appropriate  instructions. 

These  instructions  were  distributed  to  Chaplains  and  Mis 
sionaries  early  in  April,  1 864.  There  being  two  Chaplains  con¬ 
nected  with  the  chief  office  of  the  Department,  then  at  Vicks¬ 
burg,  more  attention  was  paid  to  this  interest  there  than  at  other 
posts ;  and  the  data,  on  which  the  following  remarks  are  founded^ 
are  chiefly  derived  from  that  post.  It  must  not  be  understood 
however,  that  no  progress  has  been  made  at  other  posts.  Books 
for  the  registration  of  marriages  were  sent  early  to  all  the  chief 
post  in  the  Department ;  and  such  attention  has  been  given  to 
this  subject  as  circumstances  allowed. 

RETURNS  AND  REGISTERS. 

The  Return,  which  a  minister  is  required  to  make  of  each 
marriage  solemnized  hy  him,  contains  the  ages  of  the  parties ; 
the  admixture  of  blood  in  themselves  and  in  each  of  their  pa¬ 
rents  ;  the  length  of  time  each  may  have  lived  with  another  per¬ 
son  as  husband  or  wile,  with  the  causes  of  their  separation ;  and 
the  number  of  children  each  may  have  had  by  former  connection, 
or  which  they  together  may  already  have  had.  Thus  it  will  be 
seen  that  the  returns  will  afford  most  interesting  statistics.  Re¬ 
ference  will  be  made  to  these  hereafter. 

The  Registers,  made  up  from  these  Returns,  also  afford  the 
means  of  identifying  parties,  as  far  as  is  possible.  This  is  most 
important,  especially  in  view  of  questions  of  inheritance  that  may 
hereafter  arise,  and  of  claims  on  the  Government  by  the  families 
of  deceased  colored  soldiers.  The  means  of  proving  a  true  re¬ 
lationship,  and  of  checking  fraud,  may  here  be  found.  The  books, 
substantially  made  up  for  this  purpose,  have  been  carefully  kept, 
and  will  be  easily  preserved. 

At  first  far  the  greater  t  number  of  those  married  were 
couples  seeking  to  legalize  unions  already  formed,  some  of  which 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE. 


91 


had  existed  a  long  time ;  and  sometimes  most  touching  is  the 
deep  satisfaction  with  with  they  hear  the  announcement — “  There¬ 
fore,  in  accordance  with  the  ordinance  of  God,  and  by  the  au¬ 
thority  of  the  United  States,  I  pronounce  you  husband  and  wife: 
and  whom  God  hath  joined  together,  let  not  man  put  asunder.” 
Latterly  a  greater  proportion  are  new  contracts. 

The  statistics  to  be  gathered  from  the  Marriage  Registers, 
from  the  best  answers  that  can  be  found  to  most  of  the  pleas  of¬ 
fered  in  justification  of  slavery  ;  the  substance  of  which  is,  that 
entire  subjection  to  the  will  of  the  master,  with  protection  and 
support,  is  the  best  situation  in  which  to  secure  the  happiness 
and  dev  elope  the  virtues  of  the  colored  people.  But  there  are 
two  aspects  of  slavery,  which  these  statistics  reveal,  and  which 
exhibit  its  character  so  far  in  indelible  tints.  The  first  of  these 
is,  its  inhumanity  in  rupturing  the  social  relations. 

VIOLENT  RUPTURES  OF  SOCIAL  RELATIONS. 

If  we  are  to  believe  the  advocates  of  the  system,  the  slaves 
generally  passed  their  time  in  extreme  contentment  and  happi¬ 
ness,  enjoying  a  high  degree  of  domestic  felicity.  They  confess 
that  occasionally  a  forcible  separation  of  husband  and  wife  may 
have  occurred  ;  but  they  represent  such  things  as  extremely  rare, 
and  would  have  us  believe  that  white  people  guilty  of  such  vio¬ 
lence  were  deemed  infamous.  But  our  Registers  tell  a  different 
tale.  To  take  that  of  Vicksburg  only,  as  an  example — we  find 
returns  of  fifteen  hundred  marriages  in  that  District  up  to  Nov. 
30,  1864.  Of  these  three  thousand  persons,  five  hundred  and 
sixty-seven  had  been  forcibly  and  hopelessly  separated  from  hus¬ 
bands  and  wives  by  the  direct  operation  of  the  system  of  slavery  : 
some  for  the  personal  convenience  of  master  or  overseer ;  some 
because  the  master  would  have  all  his  people  mated  on  his  own 
plantation,  or  not  at  all:  but  most  of  them  by  sale  or  removal. 
Thus  more  than  one-sixth  of  the  people  whom  we  have  recorded 
as  married  have  suffered  the  disruption  of  domestic  ties.  And 
this  average  may  fairly  be  raised  higher,  if  we  count  the  actual 
number  of  such  separations,  instead  of  merely  the  number  of 
persons  so  separated — many  having  suffered  this  wrong  more 
than  once.  To  this  amount  of  outrage  is  to  be  added  the  violent 
separation  of  children  and  parents,  which  occurs  still  more  fre¬ 
quently.  Parties  have  always  been  asked  if  they  had  children 
during  these  former  connections ;  and  they  have  often  answered 


92 


REPORT  OF  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN, 


that  they  had  left  behind,  on  being  sold  away,  one,  two,  six,  a 
dozen,  and  even  twenty ;  and  it  has  oftener  appeared  that  chil¬ 
dren  have  been  sold,  and  parents  left  behind.  Many  of  these  se¬ 
parations  were  of  mere  infants  from  their  mothers. 

Another  fact  revealed  by  these  inquiries,  is  the  astounding 
mortality  among  colored  children  in  slavery.  We  have  often 
been  told  of  the  birth  and  death  of  many — the  deaths  frequent¬ 
ly  amounting  to  five-sixths  of  those  born.  W ere  it  not  that  it  is 
a  race  of  marvellous  health  and  fecundity,  slavery  would  soon 
have  abolished  itself,  without  importation,  in  the  South-West, 
by  destroying  the  people. 

We  ought  also  to  remember  the  continual  fear  of  such  dis¬ 
ruption  of  family  ties,  in  which  all  slaves  constantly  lived,  especi¬ 
ally  in  the  Northern  slave  States.  But  many  have  said,  “  They 
do  not  leel  these  things  as  we  would.”  This  is  utterly  false. 
They  are’a  race  of  peculiarly  keen  feelings  and  domestic  tenden¬ 
cies  ;  and  they  have  had  fewer  means  of  withdrawing  their  minds 
from  their  griefs  than  we  have.  But  they  rarely  got  pity  in 
their  sorrows  :  if  they  were  downcast,  they  were  often  whipped 
for  “  sulking.” 

To  this  is  still  to  be  added,  that  the  insecurity  of  their  do" 
mestic  relations  necessarily  produced  fickleness  among  them' 
selves.  It  seemed  bad  policy  to  love,  when  the  most  sacred  feel¬ 
ings  might  any  day  be  miserably  outraged,  and  the  dearest  con¬ 
nections  ruthlessly  sundered.  So  temporary  connections,  un¬ 
sanctified  by  any  feeling  of  the  heart,  came  into  vogue,  A  rov¬ 
ing  fancy  was  indulged.  Corruption,  proceeding  to  incest,  pre¬ 
vailed.  A  planter  told  one  of  my  assistants,  that  he  believed 
that  every  man  among  the  three  hundred  people  on  his  estate 
had,  at  some  time  or  other,  had  every  woman  on  it.  There  is 
evidence  to  prove  conclusively,  that  on  many  plantations  black 
men  were  countenanced  and  encouraged  in  practices  abhored 
even  by  heathen  morality — to  improve  the  breed  of  human  cat¬ 
tle.  We  are  shamed,  as  to  our  country  and  our  common  human¬ 
ity,  by  having  such  things  to  say  and  hear.  But  it  is  time  that 
the  whole  truth,  that  “  slavery  is  the  sum  of  all  villainies,” 
should  stand  out  before  a  disgusted  world. 

A  SPECIMEN. 

As  illustrative  of  this  subject,  it  may  be  stated,  that  Major 
Sargent,  in  an  Appendix  to  a  Report  on  his  District  in  Arkansas, 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE. 


93 


gives  extracts  from  the  order  book  of  a  Mr,  Cockrell,  a  planter 
in  that  State,  now  a  Confederate  “  Commissioner  for  the  Seques¬ 
tration  of  the  Estates  of  Alien  Enemies.”  The  book  contains  in¬ 
structions  to  his  Overseer,  and  was  found  in  his  house,  which  he 
had  abandoned  on  the  approach  of  our  forces.  One  extract  is 
as  follows  : — “  The  plantation  is  to  produce  400  bales  of  cotton, 
40,000  lbs.  of  pork,  50  stacks  oats,  75  stacks  fodder,  8  stacks 
millet,  Ten  Negro  Children .”  He  then  arranges  for  producing 
the  children  by  ordering  the  pairing  of  “  Henry  and  Susan,  Cam. 
bridge  and  Matilda,  Sandy  and  Yellow  Kitty,”  &c. 

A  REVELATION. 

Still  further  to  illustrate  the  miserable  corruption  to  which 
slavery  exposed  its  victims,  (and,  for  that  matter,  the  oppressors 
too,) — there  was  a  colored  woman  at  Davis’  Bend,  when  our  for¬ 
ces  took  possession  of  that  place, — afterward  sent  to  Cincinnati — 
who  can  be  proved,  by  the  testimony  of  hundreds,  to  have  been 
the  kept  mistress  of  Jeff.  Davis;  and  she  is  universally  reputed 
to  be  the  daughter  of  Joe  Davis,  the  rebel  insurgent  leader’s  bro¬ 
ther.  W e  know,  also,  of  at  least  six  persons,  the  offspring  of 
white  Southern  women  by  colored  men.  One  of  these  children 
of  white  women,  after  narrowly  escaping  death  by  drowning  at 
the  hands  of  his  maternal  uncles,  is  now  a  Presiding  Elder  in 
the  Methodist  Church.  Another  was  once  sold  into  slavery  by 
his  mother,  for  a  “  flitch  of  bacon.” 

MISCEGENATION - BY  WHOM. 

The  second  aspect  of  slavery,  illustrated  by  these  statistics, 
is  its  immorality.  It  may  not  be  thought  necessary  to  add  any¬ 
thing  to  the  statements  immediately  preceding  this  paragraph  ; 
but  the  following  matter  is  important.  Of  these  same  three 
thousand  people,  whose  marriages  are  recorded  at  Vicksburg, 
one  thousand  and  fifty  have  been  found  to  have  white  blood  in 
their  composition.  There  may  have  been  more ;  for  many  are 
put  down  as  black  when  there  were  suspicions  of  white  admix¬ 
ture,  which  they  denied ; — for  it  is  to  be  noticed,  that  they  are 
-  already  beginning  to  be  ashamed  of  mixture,  which  was  formerly 
a  matter  of  pride.  Here  were  more  than  one-third  mixed — 
many  almost  white,  a  few  entirely  so. 

We  have  been  told  that  slavery  is  a  civilizing  institution^ 
highly  moral  in  its  effect  among  the  slaves,  and  productive  of  the 


94 


REPORT  OP  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN, 


extremest  type  of  Christian  civilization  among  the  whites.  It  has  also 
been  a  favorite  sneer,  directed  at  all  advocates  of  emancipation,  that 
abolition  was  amalgamation.  The  preceding  paragraph  is  a  suf¬ 
ficient  answer  to  all  these  things.  Moreover,  in  the  course  of 
their  official  action  during  the  past  year,  my  assistants  have  be¬ 
come  cognizant  of  four  marriages  of  southern  white  men  to  col¬ 
ored  women.  One  of  them  was  formerly  a  negro  trader.  His 
quadroon  slave  and  mistress  would  not  live  with  him  without 
marriage,  because,  as  she  said,  she  had  now  become  free,  and  it 
was  no  longer  right  to  submit  to  that,  to  which  she  had  been 
helplessly  subjected  in  slavery.  A  Chaplain,  altogether  unwil¬ 
ling  to  assist  at  mixed  marriages,  was  induced  to  perform  the 
ceremony  in  this  instance,  by  the  man’s  saying  that  he  had  “mar¬ 
ried  her  in  the  sight  of  God  five  years  ago !” 

MORAL  PROGRESS. 

It  was  to  teach  and  reform  a  people  inured  to  these  things, 
that  the  institution  of  lawful  maariage  was  directed.  And  it  has 
wrought  grand  and  beneficent  effects.  No  people,  within  the 
whole  compass  of  history,  have  ever  exhibited  more  rapid  pro¬ 
gress  of  a  civilizing  idea.  It  is  not  pretended  that  all  the  mar¬ 
riages  that  have  taken  place  were  well  advised,  or  will  be  happy, 
or  faithfully  observed.  When  marriages  among  whites  shall  all 
prove  so,  without  exception,  it  will  be  time  to  look  for  such  a 
happy  state  of  things  among  the  blacks.  But  progress — great 
and  enceuraging — has  been  made ;  and  this  is  all  that  could  have 
been  expected. 


THE  MEDICAL  DEPARTMENT. 

Surgeon  D.  O.  McCord,  who  had  had  much  experience 
among  the  freed  people,  aud  whose  good  service  I  here  gratefully 
acknowledge,  was  announced,  in  Orders  114  of  the  Secretary  of 
War,  issued  by  Adjutant  General  Thomas,  as  Medical  Director 
of  Freedmen  for  the  Department  of  the  Tennessee  and  State  of 
Arkansas,  Dec.  1,  1863.  Medical  attendance  and  supplies  for 
the  people  were  under  his  control;  and,  according  to  orders,  no 
one  could  practice  among  them  without  his  approval.  Accord¬ 
ing  to  his  Report,  made  June  28th,  1864,  he  found,  on  entering 
upon  his  duties,  only 

“Eight  surgeons  employed  with  these  people.  Most  of  them  were 
incompetent,  and  relieved  from  duty  for  that  reason.  Now  we  have  thirty- 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE. 


95 


two,  all  educated  men,  who  take  an  interest  in  the  work.  Then  we  had 
but  one  hospital  worthy  of  the  name ;  now  we  have  one  in  every  camp, 
or  within  reach  of  it.  Wherever  the  Government  has  colored  laborers, 
we  send  surgeons,  hospital  and  medical  stores.” 

This  favorable  advance,  in  the  medical  affairs  of  the  freed 
people,  was  hardly  secured  before  the  Surgeon  General  found  the 
medical  appropriations  of  Congress  falling  short  of  the  necessi¬ 
ties  of  the  army  in  its  active  operations ;  and  the  Secretary  of 
War  accordingly  ordered — uNo  issue  will  be  made,  or  bills  paid, 
by  the  Medical  Department,  on  account  of  Freedmen  not  in  the 
United  States  service.” 

Soon  after,  under  the  clause  of  a  law  enacted  in  J uly,  Reg¬ 
ulations  were  provided  for  the  transfer  of  Freedmen’s  affairs  to 
the  Treasury  Department. 

A  brief  statement  from  me  to  the  Assistant  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  Hon.  Mr.  Harrington,  in  the  absence  of  Hon.  Secretary 
Fessenden,  of  the  facts  which  parties  moving  in  the  matter  seem¬ 
ed  to  ignore, — that  the  dependent,  whom  we  had  hoped  would 
be  provided  for  by  the  Plantation  Agents,  had  been  thrown  upon 
military  support ;  and  that  there  were  no  other  instrumentalities 
for  their  care ; — cut  off,  they  must  perish ;  that  my  Assistants 
had  been  compelled,  as  stated  before,  to  extend  Government  aid 
to  numerous  Freedmen  endeavoring  to  help  themselves;  and 
consequently  had  open  contracts,  which  could  not  be  settled  till 
the  close  of  the  season  ;  Mr.  Harrington,  taking  a  common-sense 
view  of  the  confusion  and  harm  sure  to  occur  from  a  transfer  so 
unprovided  for,  immediately  suspended  the  proposed  Regulations 
of  the  Treasury ;  and,  after  the  return  of  the  Hon.  Secretary, 
Mr.  Fessenden,  and  consultation  with  him,  addressed  to  me  the 
following  note : — 

“Treasury  Department,  August  23,  1864. 

“Sir: — The  suspension  of  the  Regulations,  whereby  this  Department 
contemplated  taking  immediate  control  of  the  Freedmen,  has  been  ap¬ 
proved  by  the  Secretary. 

“In  directing  such  suspension,  it  was  the  expectation  and  desire  of 
the  Department,  that  the  system  and  arrangements  heretofore  inaugurated, 
and  now  being  prosecuted  under  you,  should  be  continued  without  inter¬ 
ruption  until  the  crops  now  in  are  gathered,  and  the  present  season  closed ; 
and  until  this  Department  is  prepared  in  all  respects  to  assume  such  con¬ 
trol  under  the  law. 

“Respectfully, 

GEO.  HARRINGTON, 
Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

“Col.  John  Eaton,  Jr., 

Washington.” 


96 


REPORT  OF  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN, 


The  above  statements  close  out  the  general  reports  from  my 
officers.  Their  accounts  with  the  several  funds  will  be  settled  as 
soon  as  the  crops  are  gathered  and  sold. 

The  mass  of  facts  clearly  illustrates  the  great  principles  to 
which  the  two  distinctive  elements  of  government  are  assigned 
— the  Treasury,  to  the  collection  of  revenues  and  the  disbursement 
of  funds ;  the  War  Office,  to  the  prosecution  of  military  opera¬ 
tions,  and  the  execution  of  the  functions  of  government  in  the  en¬ 
forcement  of  justice,  whilst  civil  authority  is  in  abeyance.  These 
facts  show  that  any  confounding  of  the  functions  of  the  Depart¬ 
ments  must  create  confusion,  and  fail  of  good.  In  respect  to  the 
Freedmen  as  a  whole,  it  is  plain  that  the  Treasury  shonld  con¬ 
trol  the  funds,  as  for  all  other  operations  ;  and  the  W ar  Depart¬ 
ment,  having  the  only  efficient  instrumentalities,  provide  for  the 
dependent,  and  execute  justice  among  and  toward  the  Freedmen, 
as  to  all  others  in  the  regions  under  army  sway. 

Had  the  War  Office  cut  off  Commissary  and  Quartermaster 
supplies,  as  it  was  compelled  to  stop  medicines,  the  suffering  and 
injury  would  have  been  indescribable  and  irremediable.  As  it 
was,  my  officers  having  hospitals  and  moderate  supplies  in  their 
control,  were  able,  aided  by  the  purchase  of  medicines  by  the 
Freedmen’s  fund,  to  limit  the  extent  of  the  disaster. 

Surgeon  McCord  has  since,  in  connection  with  the  Surgeon 
General,  the  Adjutant  General,  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Trea¬ 
sury,  endeavored  to  complete  arrangements  for  the  future. 

CONCLUSION. 

The  inferences  from  these  facts  are  obvious.  No  one  can 
apprehend  them,  or  penetrate  their  philosophy,  without  seeing, 
in  the  policy  of  the  Government,  towards  the  Freedmen,  the  easy 
settlement  of  some  of  the  most  difficult  questions  of  reconstruc¬ 
tion. 

The  results  of  reconstruction  depend  entirely  upon  the  ma¬ 
terial  used.  W e  can  erect  a  granite  structure  neither  on  a  foun¬ 
dation  of  hay  and  stubble,  nor  out  of  clay  and  mortar.  Neither 
debates  nor  papers,  but  what  is  made  of  these  masses  during 
the  war,  whether  actually  voters  or  not,  must  determine  the 
status  of  these  regions. 

With  an  aim  to  present  exclusively  these  facts,  essential  to  de¬ 
termine  future  action,  much  of  the  most  touching  and  thrilling  in  the 
experience  of  my  officers  has  been  omitted.  Intrusive  fancy  and 


DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TENNESSEE. 


97 


ambition  have  borne  their  mushroom  fruits.  Benevolence  has 
erected  its  monuments,  as  in  the  sacrifice  of  the  Vannatta  and 
Buchanan  families,  and  others.  Their  blood  is  on  the  hands  of 
their  murderers.  Major  Young  and  Captain  Rogers  fell  sacrifi¬ 
ces  to  the  exposure  to  malarial  influences  and  sleepless  activity 
required  of  my  officers  in  their  important  duty.  Planting  too 
has  offered  its  victims,  the  noble  Cathcart  and  Winchell.  Medi¬ 
cal  care  of  the  sable  sick  has  cost  the  murder  of  the  esteemed 
Fahnestock,  and  the  captivity — perhaps  death — of  others.  Not 
a  few  negroes  have  sealed  their  efforts  for  liberty  with  their  blood. 
The  falsely  called  chivalry  have  illustrated  their  boasts  of  superi¬ 
ority  by  the  most  diabolical  atrocities  of  murder,  mutilation  and 
child-stealing. 

The  saving  of  capital,  of  life,  and  of  civilization  looks  only  in 
one  direction — to  the  supremacy  of  law,  affirmed  as  it  can  be, 
here  and  now,  only  by  military  power  for  white  and  black,  hold¬ 
ing  all  to  a  stern  accountability. 

Our  country  has  been  put  to  the  test  of  the  sacrifice  of  trea¬ 
sure,  and  comfort,  and  life— most  severe,  and  yet  not  exhaustive 
— rather  consistent  with  its  mighty  growth.  It  has  also  afforded 
the  sublimest  illustrations  of  self-sacrifice  on  the  field  of  carnage. 
But  the  day  of  adjustments  hastens,  with  tests  more  trying  to  our 
virtues. 

These  strains  have  been  upon  my  officers,  and  upon  all,  who, 
like  them,  have  taken  the  advance  in  this  settlement  of  our  es¬ 
sential  difficulties.  Those  who  have  been  faithful  are  commended, 
for  their  vindication  and  reward,  to  future  generations.  Their 
deeds  are  their  best  records,  and  will  live  after  them.  Their 
names,  more  familiar  to  the  future  than  the  present,  are  already 
made  familiar  among  this  people,  and  in  this  Report. 

It  will  be  seen  that  I  am  especially  indebted  to  Col.  Samuel 
Thomas,  Lieut.  Cols.  Mitchell  and  Eaton,  Maj.  Sargent, 
Capts.  Walker  and  Mallory,  and  Chaplains  Warren,  Fisk 
and  Hawley.  My  indebtedness  to  Commanding  Officers  in  the 
valley,  who  have  co-operated  with  me,  is  already  apparent.  Since 
Gen.  Grant,  no  one  has  more  faithfully  studied  the  whole  sub¬ 
ject  than  Maj.  Gen.  Dana,  Commanding  the  Department  of  the 
Mississippi.  Lieut.  S.  N,  Clark  has  been  specially  useful  in 
compiling  this  Report. 


13 


98 


REPORT  OF  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  FREEDMEN. 


Acknowledging  my  special  and  repeated  obligations  to  your¬ 
self,  General,  in  all  these  affairs, 

I  have  the  honor  to  be 

Your  most  obedient  servant, 

JOHN  EATON,  Jr.,  Colonel, 
General  Superintendent  of  Freedmen, 
Department  of  the  Tennessee  and  State  of  Arkansas. 


